I *so* didn't need this...
Dec. 29th, 2004 04:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jim_pI wanted to use my company's shutdown period between Christmas and New Years to go to town getting my frame shop set up. I've got the space, now I need to do some finishing, painting, wiring, building worktables and counters, and the like.
The Boxing-Day Blizzard killed Sunday and Monday for me, yesterday was spent on medical stuff and taking care of the Phillipston feral-kitty (more on that in another posting). Tuesday evening I hit up Home Depot and bought a bunch of stuff, hoping to go to town today.
I'm sitting here this morning, reading email and eating my oatmeal, when I start hearing a "peck-peck-peck" sound behind me. I turn around and see: my coat on the bed, and drops of water falling on it! I look up and see drops coming from the ceiling. Great.
I ring up the landlady, and she says that they're just getting ready to head to the airport for a Florida trip, but they'll swing by on the way and see what they can do. While waiting for them, I make my way up onto the roof (one-story, shallow pitch, thank heavens!) with a snow shovel and start surveying the situation. There's snow on most of the roof. In roughly the right spot, where two rooflines and a projecting second story converge, I spot the trouble: a big lump of ice. I make my way over and start shoveling and chipping, and eventually expose the problem: where the two rooflines converged someone had laid down aluminum flashing, then lapped the roofing (shingles on one side, roll roofing on the other) over it. Near my bedroom this flashing had buckled, making a low spot that caught water. (and ice!). Obviously they had problems with this before, because I saw roofing-patch tar gooped up onto the lower third of the flashing. The flashing had flexed under the weight of the snow, breaking the adhesion between it and the goop, and creating a path for water to get in.
The landlord finally shows up and we survey the situation. He's a builder by trade, but roofs aren't his specialty. Yes this flashing was his handiwork. We talk about options (Best option would be to tear this part of the roof off and replace it with rubber membrane. Second-best would be to tear the flashing and surrounding roof off and re-lay the flashing and roofing tight against the roof). He knows I'm handy, and we eventually agree that we can goop the hell out of this for the winter and fix it right in the spring. He tells me about his favorite brand of goop (which can go on wet surfaces, even in the driving rain). Since I kinda wanted to make a Home Despot run for a couple other things anyway, I agree that I'll get the stuff and put it on, he'll pay me for it, and he'll owe me a hell of a favor later :)
I go out, get the stuff, come back, and start putting it on. I'd gotten a throwaway mop as well so I could sweep away standing water before laying it down. Since there was still snow on the upper part of the roof (and I did not have the energy to clear that along with everything else!) I'm getting water trickling into the work. Finally, after having figured out the properties of this stuff, I've got a nice thick layer over the problem spots, feathered out several inches to either side.
I didn't have any rubber gloves, so my hands were filthy with roofing tar when I was done. It took a good fifteen minutes of scrubbing to get them mostly clean. I may still go back up there and lay down a second coat once this one sets, but at least the interior rains have ceased.
I'm beat, though. My back was already hurting a bit from all the shoveling I'd done for the Cape Cod snowstorm; this definitely didn't help. I think I'll take a nap and get some paperwork done. Don't know if I'll get to any of the shop chores today... maybe tomorrow. I've been saying "maybe tomorrow" for several days, though, and it's getting a bit old...
The Boxing-Day Blizzard killed Sunday and Monday for me, yesterday was spent on medical stuff and taking care of the Phillipston feral-kitty (more on that in another posting). Tuesday evening I hit up Home Depot and bought a bunch of stuff, hoping to go to town today.
I'm sitting here this morning, reading email and eating my oatmeal, when I start hearing a "peck-peck-peck" sound behind me. I turn around and see: my coat on the bed, and drops of water falling on it! I look up and see drops coming from the ceiling. Great.
I ring up the landlady, and she says that they're just getting ready to head to the airport for a Florida trip, but they'll swing by on the way and see what they can do. While waiting for them, I make my way up onto the roof (one-story, shallow pitch, thank heavens!) with a snow shovel and start surveying the situation. There's snow on most of the roof. In roughly the right spot, where two rooflines and a projecting second story converge, I spot the trouble: a big lump of ice. I make my way over and start shoveling and chipping, and eventually expose the problem: where the two rooflines converged someone had laid down aluminum flashing, then lapped the roofing (shingles on one side, roll roofing on the other) over it. Near my bedroom this flashing had buckled, making a low spot that caught water. (and ice!). Obviously they had problems with this before, because I saw roofing-patch tar gooped up onto the lower third of the flashing. The flashing had flexed under the weight of the snow, breaking the adhesion between it and the goop, and creating a path for water to get in.
The landlord finally shows up and we survey the situation. He's a builder by trade, but roofs aren't his specialty. Yes this flashing was his handiwork. We talk about options (Best option would be to tear this part of the roof off and replace it with rubber membrane. Second-best would be to tear the flashing and surrounding roof off and re-lay the flashing and roofing tight against the roof). He knows I'm handy, and we eventually agree that we can goop the hell out of this for the winter and fix it right in the spring. He tells me about his favorite brand of goop (which can go on wet surfaces, even in the driving rain). Since I kinda wanted to make a Home Despot run for a couple other things anyway, I agree that I'll get the stuff and put it on, he'll pay me for it, and he'll owe me a hell of a favor later :)
I go out, get the stuff, come back, and start putting it on. I'd gotten a throwaway mop as well so I could sweep away standing water before laying it down. Since there was still snow on the upper part of the roof (and I did not have the energy to clear that along with everything else!) I'm getting water trickling into the work. Finally, after having figured out the properties of this stuff, I've got a nice thick layer over the problem spots, feathered out several inches to either side.
I didn't have any rubber gloves, so my hands were filthy with roofing tar when I was done. It took a good fifteen minutes of scrubbing to get them mostly clean. I may still go back up there and lay down a second coat once this one sets, but at least the interior rains have ceased.
I'm beat, though. My back was already hurting a bit from all the shoveling I'd done for the Cape Cod snowstorm; this definitely didn't help. I think I'll take a nap and get some paperwork done. Don't know if I'll get to any of the shop chores today... maybe tomorrow. I've been saying "maybe tomorrow" for several days, though, and it's getting a bit old...
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Date: 2004-12-30 07:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-30 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-03 08:35 am (UTC)Once, I had to go to Home Depot by myself and I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not the fixer-upper, hardware store kind of person. Anyway, I ended up getting lost in there and couldn't find the exit. Of course, just when I needed help, there was no one around. I decided to walk along the walls of the store until I got to the exit.