Shed roof felting - joints & peak

[Mr. Clueless]

So I re-felted my shed which has an apex roof. I'm a DIY idiot so while the felt is on there right now my brain is telling me that the first wind it'll be off & the first sign of rain it'll leak.

My 2 concerns -

1. The overlaps. I tried applying some of that bitumen stuff. I'd happily never touch that stuff again in my life! What an absolute mess. Anyway, while I ran it the length I didn't get it to the very edges of the top centre sheet - as I'd already had problems with this stuff running where it shouldn't & making a mess. So I coated it 'in a bit'. I obviously put in the clout nails also but the clout nails will be going through where there's no bitumen adhesive.
In case I'm describing poorly there'll be the edge of the top sheet of felt, call it 10mm gap (it might not be), clout nails, 10-20mm gap & then a strip of adhesive running front to back.

So the concern is wind/rain will cause an issue.

2. The peak. This shed is a DIY, or rather a SEBI (Someone Else Built It) build. The roof is made out of 6x1 lengths of treated timber. So as each side comes to a peak there's a sort of mini gap where the top 2 pieces of timber on each side come together. There was nothing added to make the very centre rounded/solid.

So the concern there is the felt will sag / go soft / cats will knacker it. The felt I used was this one. Not sure if it's ok but what was on was leaking so it has to be better. I could've maybe got the same for cheaper but I needed a guaranteed delivery slot so I wasn't waiting in.

The felt I took off, I'm not sure what that was - there were bits of plastic & like paper lining to it.



I'm most certainly not taking off & starting again. Not unless it forces me to. I don't think my knees are ready for it. This is more a should I be putting like some adhesive taping down the seams & centre? I see a nearby neighbour appears to have some sort of tape running the length of their seams/joints/overlaps.



Final note - what's the deal with clout spacing? I Googled it & it was telling me so many things depending how the question was worded. For example - I googled the overlap spacing & it said 50mm. I thought I had read a while ago that it was 100mm so I re-worded to ask "is it ok to gap the spacing 100mm for overlaps" - Google then spits out yes this is perfectly fine and is the standard. Well why you just tell me it was 50mm then??

So I think I pretty much spaced everything out 100mm for everything - the front, rear & side drip flaps, the tops of the first 2 sheets, the overlaps as well.

 

[Deluks]

The adhesive is a good belt and braces approach, but as you have learned, not so good in extremes of temperature.
100mm is fine for the edges. Length of nail is usually more important, I put up a shed recently that was supplied with 10mm felt nails.

Some say 50mm spacing for the edges but it depends on the location and exposure.

The 'gap' isn't usually a problem but I always double up the felt here, a loose laid, narrower strip under the fixed top strip, helps protect against future splits.
Too late now but you can cut a strip of foam from cheap pipe insulation to take up the gap and support the felt.

 

[Mr. Clueless]

The adhesive is a good belt and braces approach, but as you have learned, not so good in extremes of temperature.
100mm is fine for the edges. Length of nail is usually more important, I put up a shed recently that was supplied with 10mm felt nails.

Some say 50mm spacing for the edges but it depends on the location and exposure.

The 'gap' isn't usually a problem but I always double up the felt here, a loose laid, narrower strip under the fixed top strip, helps protect against future splits.
Too late now but you can cut a strip of foam from cheap pipe insulation to take up the gap and support the felt.

Thanks for the input.

I was going to cut a small strip (so a 4th cut on top of the 2 sides & 3rd centre piece) and run it down the middle but I was going to put it on top. The only reason I didn't is I didn't have enough left on the roll once the 3 cuts had been made. Reading your post now it seems like I had the right idea but now you've mentioned laying it underneath - that makes much better sense than what I was going to do.


I've just been out & had a look.

At a distance the job looks not too bad but when you get closer & look from the side, the bloody felt adhesive has ran from underneath the centre piece, down the end piece & dripped off the side. Not like 100s of runs but enough for it to look crap & be annoying. Thankfully where it's dripping on to wont be seen at all.

I've blotted it as best I can but it's still not going to fix it.

What I noticed when up there was I'm not sure how to describe it but the felt sort of moves/flexes. It seemed tight when I was nailing it but with the movement I'm now concerned I'll come home from work 1 day to find that the shed has no felt on it whatsoever & I'll have P'd off neighbours with felt in their garden.

Time will tell. Fingers crossed.

 

[noseall]

Thanks for the input.

I was going to cut a small strip (so a 4th cut on top of the 2 sides & 3rd centre piece) and run it down the middle but I was going to put it on top. The only reason I didn't is I didn't have enough left on the roll once the 3 cuts had been made. Reading your post now it seems like I had the right idea but now you've mentioned laying it underneath - that makes much better sense than what I was going to do.


I've just been out & had a look.

At a distance the job looks not too bad but when you get closer & look from the side, the bloody felt adhesive has ran from underneath the centre piece, down the end piece & dripped off the side. Not like 100s of runs but enough for it to look crap & be annoying. Thankfully where it's dripping on to wont be seen at all.

I've blotted it as best I can but it's still not going to fix it.

What I noticed when up there was I'm not sure how to describe it but the felt sort of moves/flexes. It seemed tight when I was nailing it but with the movement I'm now concerned I'll come home from work 1 day to find that the shed has no felt on it whatsoever & I'll have P'd off neighbours with felt in their garden.

Time will tell. Fingers crossed.

The best way to deal with nail fixing felt with short clouts is to turn the felt around and fix the fist piece at the bottom from the back of the felt. You then fold the felt back over itself with a neat (warmed) crease so that the nails are concealed. Rinse and repeat up to the ridge cap.