Paint felt shed roof?

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Hi everyone!

My shed is about 8 years old and last winter, small amounts of water started getting through the felt. I think its leaking through the holes where the felt tacks went, some of which have come out.

I was wondering about painting the roof with a bitumen paint, eg Bostik waterproofing black paint for roofs. Is this a good plan that would keep the water out and could potentially be a routine maintenance plan, or is it a waste of time and I should do the bigger job of replacing the felt?

Thanks in advance!
Burt
 
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Right, following the advice, I'm planning on fitting new felt at the weekend.

Access around the shed is tricky as its up the side of my house with fences on one side and the back and my house wall on the other side, all within about 6 inches. I'm thinking it will be a lot easier to put new felt over the old and stick down with a felt adhesive rather than trying to use clout nails where I can't get a hammer.

Putting new felt over old doesn't seem to be the normal way to do it, but is there any reason not to? Or any other advice on felting a shed roof that I can only really access from the door gable end?

Cheers!
Burt
 
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How big is it, what pitch (ish) is the roof and how sturdy are the roof timbers?
Glueing the felt down is not ideal- good odds you'll leave some gaps, the wind will get under it & bye bye felt.
Assuming it's a smallish shed, put a prop in the middle of the ridge beam then lie on the roof.
 
Putting new felt over old doesn't seem to be the normal way to do it, but is there any reason not to? Or any other advice on felting a shed roof that I can only really access from the door gable end?

Nailing (screwing better) through laths or a series of timber laths on top, will help keep it tight down in high winds. Plastic conduit is even batter/longer lasting than timber.
 
Thanks...

oldbutnotdead:
It's a fairly standard 8x6ft shed with the apex running down the length. I guess the pitch is about 1 in 3. It's not the strongest shed in the world, but I reckon with a prop in the middle and a bit of load spreading on top, I could lie on the roof. Issue is that with 6 inches at most between the roof and a wall or fence, I can't even swing a hammer.

Harry:
Do I understand that you're suggesting screwing timber battens over the top of the felt and into the roof structure below? I assume these would be run in line with the pitch of the roof so that they don't catch rain water? Any other considerations with this approach as it may be the best shot?

Still would be easier to leave the old felt in place. Any issues with that?

Thanks!!
 
Harry:
Do I understand that you're suggesting screwing timber battens over the top of the felt and into the roof structure below? I assume these would be run in line with the pitch of the roof so that they don't catch rain water? Any other considerations with this approach as it may be the best shot?

Still would be easier to leave the old felt in place. Any issues with that?

Yes! Felt is quite delicate and it is easy for strong winds to lift a corner of the felt and rip it off. Adding some sort of lath, with the pitch of the roof, helps keep it in places and limit the damage when the wind blows.

When I redid my hut roof a few years ago I stripped off all of the old felt off, fitted visqueen(sp?), as I had some, then felt over the top. Our large summerhouse felted roof has suffered wear from squirrels larking about on it and had begun leaking. Rather than redoing the whole roof, I just laid extra strips on top using longer nails, to cover the damage.
 
Not a bad plan that, some slating batten or whatever screwed through. Yes if you fix the new felt securely, leaving the old underneath won't be a problem. Try and fix the eaves ends of the felt to something (so they don't flap in the breeze).
I'm assuming you're felting the usual way (parallel with the ridge beam, lower sections first then last strip overlapped over the top)
 

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