Roofs develop leaks in time as the years roll by, which requires flat roof repair. Sometimes these repairs force the entire replacement of the structure itself. These leaks are most often concentrated in certain spots where the damage lies, however on flat roofs this mostly applies to cracked or blistered areas that need urgent attention. Use the following tips for flat roof repair to get your roof back in top shape without further ado.
Flat roofs are made of layers upon layers of tar and felt. Many times, flat roofs are made up of rubber roofing as well. The leaks most often show up where the water or sunlight has been damaging the roofing. Thankfully in cases like these the damage is most often right over the spot where the water has started to seep in, so this makes it easy to spot and engage in flat roof repair.
Flat Roof Repair: Fixing Leaks
Follow the following tips for flat roof repair to get rid of the leak, repair the issue, and avoid leaks in the future.
1. Clean Up Leak
• If you have any water pooled up in the area of the leak, then you should soap it up and mop the place. Do so with rags if you have to and brush away the gravel from that spot. Look down for cracks and blisters and the locations where the spots need attention.
• Mending a blister doesn’t take too much work, just follow a few easy steps up next:
2. Removing Old Leak Spot
• Using a sharp utility knife you should slice blisters open, but only enough to cut through the top layer and not through the roofing felt.
• Lift the edges of the blister you’ve just cut. If you have any water inside that happened to collect there, then you should do your best to collect it. Soak it up and then prop the edges open so it can dry out completely. This is necessary or else your repair attempts won’t work at all.
3. Drying Leak
• Cold weather or wet layers force you to use your propane torch in a way that dries out the layers. You must use a flame-spreader nozzle to dry out the areas. Move the flame around as you have to, just keep in mind that the tar and roofing felt are pretty flammable so do your best to avoid setting them aflame.
• If you have a large area full of water under the roof, then you may have a bigger problem than simple blisters. Water might be running right through other places. You should consider using the services of a professional roofer.
4. Fill Leak
• Spread the roof cement on the bottom edges of the felt. You need to glue and press down the blister until it works perfectly.
• Close the blister once and for all by using some galvanized roofing nails on the side of the slit. Then spread the roof cement on top until the you completely cover the nails.
Once all is said and done you should have all the problems fixed as much as possible without too much effort involved.
This article has been created on behalf of: http://www.removalserviceslondon.com
One reply on “Leaky Flat Roof Repair Tips”
I didn’t realize that some repairs could be as simple as just addressing the blister on the roof. It makes me nervous to do that, but these instructions might be able to give my husband the info to take care of some minor repairs. I think we will need to have the entire roof redone in the near future, though.