FIRE isn't for everybody

[wabmester]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

What most people dont know is that roofing is not "waterproof", its water resistant.

Metal roofs. Waterpoof. Pretty much maintenance free. Lasts a lifetime. Rainfall sounds cool, too.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

It still has seams and overlaps, flashing at wall edges and chimneys, and ridges and valleys. Heat makes it shrink and expand. Gaps open. The right wind and 45 days of straight rain and....drip...drip...drip...

[wabmester]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

It still has seams and overlaps, flashing at wall edges and chimneys, and ridges and valleys.* Heat makes it shrink and expand.* Gaps open.* The right wind and 45 days of straight rain and....drip...drip...drip...

Hey, just giving you the Seattle viewpoint. Not a single drop made it inside in 15 years. The overlap on standing seam metal roofs is pretty extensive, IIRC. You'd need sustained rainfall at a 90 degree angle, and the water would have to not only get under the overlapped portion, but over the ridge of the standing seam.

[haha]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

What most people don’t know is that roofing is not "waterproof", its water resistant.* Even concrete tiles can pass a fair percentage of water once saturated.* Even tar paper passes water at some point when its been on a roof for a while.

That is why I replaced my worn cedar shakes with steel panels. I no longer get nervous when the wind starts blowing and the rain is coming down hard.

I think it was last weekend- I had a few hours of rain that were like rain down south- big pounding drops that almost sounded like hail on the roof.

It's nice. I had a "tin roof" over my room as a kid, and I really liked to hear those hard Southern rains while I was waiting to fall asleep.

Ha

[Nords]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

I wouldnt sweat the leak unless its massive.* Theres been so much wind and rain you probably had enough get to a tiny hole or seam to soak through the sheeting.* Which has now swollen from the water.* Once the rain stops and everything dries out you might not have the leak ever again.

Gotta part company with you on this one, TH.

We had a nasty flashing leak last year that took about two days to fix. It also took about two years to notice because the rain rarely falls from that direction, but eventually the kitchen ceiling bowed and couldn't be ignored. (A brad pushed through the ceiling drained over five gallons of water-- yikes.) We kept thinking that we'd fixed it but we hadn't, and eventually we pulled a roof vent and crawled into the void to figure out where it was coming from. We couldn't just pull up the composition shingles and slide out the flashing because of the way the #@$%ing imbeciles nailed the siding over them, so we ended up taking down a 20x10 section of siding, replacing the flashing (which looked like it had been installed after being used for shotgun target practice), and putting it all back together.

After the last seven weeks of rain, including 40 consecutive days from that very bad direction that put so much water into our ceiling over the last five years, the roof was as tight as a drum. If we hadn't gone through the $20 flashing hassle we'd be looking for a good wallboard ceiling guy right now at who knows how much expense.

Standing-seam aluminum roofs have come a long way in the last decade. With insulation panels and on-site forming they're taking over the Hawaii market on the high-end houses. When our composition roof needs replacing we're going to take a serious look at metal.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I didnt say metal was bad. I just said its not foolproof. Concrete tile over 30/50 year tarpaper with metal valleys is pretty bulletproof too. But subject to enough water, wind and age, both will leak unless designed and installed perfectly.

If I were installing a simple roof, I wouldnt hesitate to use 30 year asphalt. For a new install on a house with a more complex roof with a number of ridges and valleys, I'd probably consider metal.

[HFWR]

Thought my flashing was leaking around the fireplace, but the culprit turned out to be deteriorating mortar between the chimney brick... After some repairs, it seemed to stop, but a week or so ago, we had 7-8" rain in two days; still leaks...

Back on the roof... *

[sgeeeee]

Originally Posted by HFWR

Thought my flashing was leaking around the fireplace, but the culprit turned out to be deteriorating mortar between the chimney brick... After some repairs, it seemed to stop, but a week or so ago, we had 7-8" rain in two days; still leaks...

Back on the roof... *

I fought a leak around my chimney for over a year. When you only get 9 inches of rain a year, you may have to wait months to find out if you fixed the leak. I pulled up shingles and patched aroung the base of the chimney. When that didn't work I changed the flashing. Finally I guessed the chimney mortar was the problem and sealed that. Once I finished, Phoenix went 140 days in a row without a drop of rain. We had downpours a couple of times in the last month and the leak seems to be gone -- finally.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Intelligence-wise, the guy who had the bright idea to put a chimney through a roof is right behind the guy who thought indoor plumbing was a good idea :P

My bet is that both of them were trying to impress women...

[Outtahere]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

Intelligence-wise, the guy who had the bright idea to put a chimney through a roof is right behind the guy who thought indoor plumbing was a good idea

I have to agree on that one. I was lucky, my great grandfather was smart enough to put the chimney on the outside of the house. When we put in a new heating system and did some remodeling we replaced that chimney but kept it outside, at least until we added the 4 season room.

[HFWR]

Not that much need for a fireplace in Dallas...

[audreyh1]

Another interesting old thread.

Audrey

[lazygood4nothinbum]

this is why i never put anything in writing