Temporary repair for felted flat roof leakage?

[The Night Tripper]

Hi All we have a large-ish front porch which has a felted flat roof. Somthing needs repair... in the recent downpours we are getting water coming into the porch.

It seems to be coming in at the corner of the porch ceiling and the house wall.

I am resigned to getting a new roof fitted in due course (if its anything like other additions to this house it will have been fairly badly done originally), but I ain't gonna get around to anything substantive for a few weeks.

I don't want the tiled floor or other parts of the construction to suffer - can the team suggest something I might try to minimise leakage as a temporary measure until I get a round tuit in the New Year?

Thanks J^n

[meow2222]

Bitumen (in solvent) and a piece of roofing felt. Or just bitumen, any cloth, and more bitumen

NT

[chrisj.doran%proemail.co.uk]

From your description, it sounds as if the flashing -- the few inches of fe= lt that bend up the wall -- has cracked or peeled off. So cover it with fla= shing tape: Think grown-up sellotape where the tape is metal foil or metall= ic-looking plastic and the sticky stuff is bitumen or similar. Rub it well = down with a wodge of rags. In this weather, warming it a bit might be a goo= d idea. It works very well, and with luck you can leave off the tuit hunt f= or several years.

If you see any actual holes in the felt, you can use the same stuff like a = band-aid.

Chris

[Brian Gaff]

Good stuff that, and the smell will clean out your passages too! Brian

[Brian Gaff]

it has to have been dry for while before you try this though as I know to my cost with a shed a few years back.

Brian

[Chris Hogg]

that bend up the wall -- has cracked or peeled off. So cover it with flashing tape: Think grown-up sellotape where the tape is metal foil or metallic-looking plastic and the sticky stuff is bitumen or similar. Rub it well down with a wodge of rags. In this weather, warming it a bit might be a good idea. It works very well, and with luck you can leave off the tuit hunt for several years.

Whenever I use Flashband, I always slap a generous amount of the liquid bitumen stuff on first, before putting down the Flashband. It helps to fill any nook and crannies and allows the Flashband to make a watertight seal on what is usually an uneven surface, and improves the adhesion.

[harry]

You can buy cans of jollop specially for the purpose. Some of them can be applied even in puddles/under water and still sticks. Expensive though.

[polygonum]

Why would a laxative help? Maybe Stixall - at a bit over a fiver a cartridge?

[Nightjar]

A blow torch will dry the area and warm it, which helps with adhesion. Just make sure the flame doesn't go down any gaps and set fire to something inside the roof.

Colin Bignell

[Nightjar]

A lot cheaper than a new roof.

Colin Bignell

[Tim Lamb]

Hot air blower or even the wife's hair drier might be safer....

[Nightjar]

I've usually found hot air blowers to be fairly useless out of doors.

Colin Bignell

[Huge]

Wickes sell tins of 'trowel on' emergency bitumen mastic roof repair. Works a treat, although you may have to sit it in a bucket of hot water for a while at this time of year before using it.

[Huge]

That's what I did.

[Chris K]

This stuff is good - if a little expensive for large areas

K

[Tim Lamb]

Helps if there is no wind:-)

Mine is reckoned to push out 1kW so soon blisters paint.

[Huge]

[Nightjar]

My 50mm gas burner is rated at 86kW :-)

Colin Bignell

[Dave Liquorice]

+1

The description does indicate a flashing problem rather than flat roof. A few piccies would be useful. Also where the wet shows inside can be a considerable distance from where it is getting in...

[Steve Firth]

Huge wrote: [snip]

It would have to be a large bucket.