Home Improvement Roofing

Tim the tool man here again bringing you another adventure in home improvement. This time offering a step by step guide for any do it yourself project when your home has an unexpected leak coming from the ceiling inside your house. One of the first thoughts when you first notice moisture, a water spot, of hear that dripping sound when ever it rains is that somewhere on your roof there just maybe a crack, a small hole where a roofing nail used to be or some missing caulk around the flashing around the roof vents. In any case trying to find just where that leak is coming from on your roof is like finding a needle in a haystack. In other words an impossible task to locate just where that crack or hole is on one’s roof.

There are many options to consider when one is faced in preventing further water damage inside one’s home due to a leaky roof. The most obvious one is the thought that the roof is old and it might be in need of a total replacement. That’s the most expensive option. One that will cost well over $5,000 or more depending on the square footage of your roof. For many of us especially us senior citizens living on Social Security that is not the option. The best chance to eliminate any leaks, protect home and at the same time if you happen to live in a warm climate such as Florida keep your interior cool on those extremely hot and humid days is to apply a silicone water proof barrier over the entire roof.

With the advent of today’s silicone roofing technologies they have come up with various sealants that would more affordable and more practical to apply directly on your roof instead of a total roof repair. Through due diligence and research on the many types of silicone sealers I recommend Eterna-Lote S-100. From all the recommendations there are this one is by far the best choice for any type of roof. You can order it online but, for sheer convince and cost Home Depot carries this brand. They say timing is everything for I was just fortunate enough to be at Home Depot when they had Eterna-Lote S-100 on sale. Originally a 5 gallon bucket would cost a little over $200 but it was marked down to $70. The square footage of my roof required two 5 gallon drums of this sealant. A far better price than had I opted to replace my roof. Besides there is a 50 year warranty. What a deal.

There really isn’t much to do once you have the necessary equipment needed to complete the task at hand in applying this sealant on your roof. 5 gallons covers just about 500 square feet no primer needed. What I recommend for a single story dwelling is an 8ft. ladder, and extendable roller handle with a paint roller designed for rough surfaces considering our roof is a rolled out shingled roof. Next you will need an empty 5 gallon bucket. Once you have these necessary tools application is easy to do.

One other word of caution is to check the weather forecast before applying. For best results your roof should be dry and free of any debris. If any rain is in the forecast wait until there is at least two days of warm dry weather before and after applying this sealant. What I did was wait until the weather was a balmy sunny 65 degrees. And in Florida during the winter months 65 degree days are quite common. I started with emptying 2 gallons of Eterna into the empty 5 gallon bucket giving me easy access to lift it up on to the roof. This is because I am not Hercules any longer and 5 gallons of this sealant weighs just about 100 lbs. So carrying that weight up my ladder would have been a considerable chore, to say the least.

Having a slow pitched A frame roof it is quite easy to move around without any safety lines. Just be careful when you come close to any edge. That is why having this extended roller handle came in handy. Starting in the back of he house I proceeded to roll this sealant covering the roof, easing my way toward the front. Two and a half gallons of sealant covered 1/4 of my roof surface. Four hours later exhausted from all the non stop application I finally finished. It was around 3:45 PM just about the time the instructions stated that” for best results do not apply after 4 PM.” All I had to do now was clean up.

Clean up is relatively easy Paint thinner is the best choice to clean your roller and any drops of sealant that just happened to splatter on yourself. I wasn’t so fortunate though I look down and my legs were splattered with sealant. I probably had more sealant on me than on some parts of my roof. Just kidding though. Anyway with a clean cloth and paint thinner I managed clean up what ever mess I made.

The moment of truth arrived to see how effective this roofing sealant really is two days latter. It was around two in the morning and rain started pouring down. Wind gusts exceeded 50 mph and for four hours driving rain pounded the roof. Somewhere during that time two large tree branches broke off landing just short of our outdoor kitchen just missing the roof. Through it all not a drop came through our ceiling. Our house was safe and dry.

So if you have a leak somewhere coming from your ceiling and

The modern poly tarp that is sold in the United States are all imported from the far East mainly from China, although Vietnam and India are now large producers of the Poly Tarp. The majority of the polyethylene waterproof material is manufactured in South Korea, it is then exported to the countries mentioned above and fabricated into fully waterproof poly tarps. A large amount of the workers that produce the tarp are aged from16 to 30, work long hours in medium size factories. Although the tarp manufacture is mechanized a lot of the work is done by the factory operatives for example the hems and grommets are usually made by hand. Most of the factories are situated in Qingdao Northern China. The tarps are stuffed into 40ft containers transported to the port where they are shipped all over the world.

Poly tarps in the main are all made with three layers of polyethylene material. The main body of the tarp is made from strips of high density woven polyethylene which is woven into a sheet. This is done in a special weaving machine and then coated on both sides with low density polyethylene to around 30 microns. The coating is then colored, this can be any color requested however the most common in the U.S.A is blue. The three main weights that are sold in the USA are as follows; 3.0 oz per sq yard 10 x10 weave, 4.5oz 12×12 weave and 6oz 14×14 weave. Typically grommets are at one yard intervals on the 3.0oz, and grommets at every eighteen inches with the 4.5oz and 6.0oz product.

All good quality tarps should have a least a 3% U.V. inhibitor added, this additive extends the life of the tarp during long periods of direct sunshine. As previously mentioned tarps are available in a variety of weights. Generally the heavier the tarp the better the quality, the ounce per square yard and the mil thickness are two ways of gauging the quality of a tarp. Thinner tarps are usually found in flea markets and some online retail sites.

Tarps can be purchased in many locations, hardware stores,Auction sites,flee markets & online vendors. The benefit of purchasing online is that you have a far greater choice of quality, size, color and the convenience of having it dropped to your door. Most internet sellers offer tarps in a very wide range of colors, even red and yellow are on offer. Camouflage tarps and Fire retardant poly tarps are also very popular and once again can be purchased from many stockists.

The Poly tarp can be used in many ways for home improvement; Roof repair, waterproofing the side of buildings during construction, covering building materials on site, as damp proof membrane, removing grass/leaves from the back yard, covering logs, use as a drop cloth, covering garden tractor, boat cover, and many other uses. For roofing repairs the best option would be the 6oz Tarp in silver as this will stand up to the sun rays to the greatest extent. If you are wanting to cover a side of a building, again the 6.0z Tarp is the ideal choice as it is the most popular heavy duty tarp. For all other uses the 4.5oz or 3.0z would be good for the job.

Robert Page CEO of Tarpaflex US LLC 4760 Enterprise Ave,Unit#402