The felt on out 7 x 7 ft Pent roof shed lasted about 7 years before one of the overlaps started letting in water, partly along the line of the overlap. I decided to get it re-felted, and chose a heavy-grade that would 'see me out'! A local gardening firm re-covered it but didn't 'seal' the overlaps. I can't comment about an underlay; I didn't see any signs if it when I cleared up the old felt, and I didn't order any along with new stuff. Anyway, after a short time both overlaps started leaking - it was obvious that the gardening chaps lacked the knowledge or experience to put it right. So I got a local builder to cover the overlaps with some leftover strips of thick roofing felt which he (melted?) on with a blowtorch. At last no leaks - or so I thought. Six months down the line, it's started leaking again. Would something like 'Everbuild Black Jack 901 Black Bitumen Paint' solve the problem?
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Hi cyrixmg, I see where you are coming from. The paint you are referring to is similiar to the THOMPSONS 10 YEAR ROOF SEAL BLACK 4LTR (73091) I get from Homebase or Screwfix. Have used this many times and it seals pretty much everything. As it dries is forms a rubbery surface which has kept many small roof repairs bone dry underneath. Hope that helps you. Shame the shed was never sorted in the first place! Regards J
Pent roofed sheds have a very low pitch are you sure overlaps were sealed properly as wind will blow rain under overlaps also check all corners of roof for small cracks as rain may enter them ,run along roof boards and leak into shed making it look like leak is elsewhere. Hope this helps
Answered15 February 2018
3
Anonymous user
Hi,
By the sounds of things everyone seems to be looking in the wrong place or you have had a run of very bad luck with tradesmen. It sounds like whatever you have done masks the issue for a short period of time and with the good old British weather your problem soon returns??
I have erected many outbuildings with pent roofs and have never had problems with the roof leaking within 8 years of them being completed. All I have ever done is laid a good quality underlay and felt. Yes this is dependent on the size of the building but has always served me well. If done correctly there is no reason this should not give you a good 8-10 years of life.
If the building is of a size that having the roof stripped back and then felted again I would suggest this be your first option because once water has found a route in it is very hard to find all entry points to reseal.
If this is not an option then firstly check that there is a good amount of overlap at each point of the felt, due to a low pitch it is easy for water to find its way through if there is not sufficient overlap. If you are happy there is a good enough overlap (I always go with a minimum of 4-6 inches) then I see no reason why a good number of nice solid coats of bitumen paint wouldn’t seal it for a while but again I feel that with some weathering it would soon fail and leaks would develop in places.
As hard as it may be to swallow I think you should consider having it felted again but with an underlay and someone that knows what they are doing.
In all this shouldn’t be an expensive job, for example if I was to re felt a timber building, 20ft x 10ft, I would charge around £400/450.00. This would be to strip the old roof and then re felt with underlay and top felt. This would include supply of all materials and clearance of all waste.
Hope this is of some help and I wish you good luck with the issue.
Best Regards
Jason
Sticks & Stones.
Answered15 February 2018
3
Anonymous user
I'd just buy a roll of high performance felt and some tacks and do it yourself felt is 8m long in Torch on cost of marerials about 50 pounds cut 3 strips out of roll at 2.4 metre lay from lowest point of roof working upwards lap over front and back and sides 10 to 15 cm with 3 strips laps in middle will be about 300mm leave to stretch out then nails all laps down you can tack down overhanging edges or put timber round for neater finish this is the best long term solution
