Polyester fabric is not a roof membrane

I came across this roof.. if you can call it a roof system. This roof system consists of polyester fabric embed in elastomeric coating directly over the top of plywood, The overall thickness is around 20 mils thick. The coating should have been at least 30 mils thick and the membrane should have been 60 mils. This is a prime example of buyer beware. The home owner paid $2300 for this. I replaced this roof with a 1 inch foam roof with 3 coats of elastomeric coating @ 1.25 gallons per 100 sqft. for the same price. I’ve talked about polyester fabric before and it’s use for repairing foam splits and for the use on top of stucco parapet walls to stop cracks. But this is NOT a roofing system and anytime someones says their going to put polyester fabric on your roof ask these questions.

1. are you putting over the exsisting roof system? (this is ok for a band-aid)
2. are you going to tear off the exsisting roof and put this in place of it? (this is not ok)

I’ve seen this used as a roof system before (and I’m not to fond of it) But it’s applied totally different then this roof. When this is used as a roof system the polyester fabric is layered in asphalt emulssion and the final coat is a 4 gallon per 100 sqft elastomeric coating achieving an overall mil. thickness of around 140 mils thick.

This is what happens when you drag your foam hose through wet foam

This is what happens when a foam applicator drags the foam hose over wet foam. This kind of thing  does happen from time to time but the real problem here is the fact that it was left like this. Normally you would take your grinder and grind it flat and then apply your coating, apparently this roofing contractor was to lazy to do it right. Kind of makes you wonder what else they didn’t do. Well take a look at the pictures below.

All around bad foam detail

This picture shows all around bad foam detail. First off they foamed in the A/C condensate line and the A/C electrical conduit. So if for some reason you needed to replace the electrical  or condensate line in addition to hiring an A/C contractor you will also need to hire a roofer. The foam detail is all around bad.

Too much foam on the pipe and not enough around the base of the pipe

This is really a all to common mistake. 9 out of 10 foam roof leaks are due to a failed penetration or some other component and not the foam it’s self. If they would have put the foam they sprayed up the sides of the pipe around the base of the pipe this wouldn’t have happened. As you can see someone tried to fix this by brushing some elastomeric coating around the pipe and as you can see it didn’t work. The proper way to fix this would be to re-foam the pipe. If you didn’t have the money to hire a roofer to do it you could apply a thik bead of urethane caulking around it. It will be a semi permanent fix. By the way this type of failure is due to settlement and the lack of foam around the pipe.

In a nutshell this property owner paid some one to give them a new roof and then paid someone else to fix their mistakes. And believe me it’s not cheap, had they hired a roof consultant from the very beginning the job would have been done right the first time and would have cost them a lot less than it’s costing them now. Remember that cracked pipe how much damage did it cause inside the structure? How many pipes were failed  like that…. About 9. So remember when you decide to have roofing work done it might be a good idea to at least call a roofing consultant  to see what his fees are you might just be surprised. Or you can roll the dice.

In the picture below you will see a failed scupper. The reason this scupper failed was due to the roofer not tearing out the old roofing  from inside and around the scupper, before applying the new roofing material. Common practice for overlaying an old roof with a new roof is to what they call “divorce” the old roofing from around scuppers, pipes and other penetrations. The reason they do this is because these are weak areas and are often the source for leaks.    

Failed Scupper

As you can see where the arrows are pointing are places the old mastic has dried out and seperated from the scupper. Had all of that old material been removed prior to the new roof installation this would have never happened.

Ok now that we can see where our leak is, how do I fix it? Go get a couple tubes of urethane caulking and a caulking gun apply the caulking in all the cracks and tool it with a piece of cardboard or putty knife. You can then apply some elastomeric roof coating over the top of  that And the repair is finished.

Repaired Scupper

This kind of fix is easy to do yourself. This type of repair is considered a permenent fix. However if your roof is under warranty call your roofing contractor and have him tear out the old material and redo it. If this happened at one scupper chances are all of the scuppers are the same way and need to be corrected.

Below is a picture of the damage this leaking scupper caused.

celing cave in

Step #1.

Your underlayment is installed and nailed, the underlayment type will vary. Typically a 30# organic felt is used this is the most common.

Tile underlayment

Step #2.

Next we install a J-pan metal and nail it to the wall over the top of the underlayment this metal allows water to run off the roof.

J-pan Metal

Step #3.

Next we are going to flash over the top of our J-pan with another metal called Z-bar. 

Z-bar flashing

Step #4.

Now we apply a waterproofing paper over the top of our Z-bar.

Waterproofing paper

Step #5.

Our tile roof wall detail is now complete. Next we will lath and stucco our wall and lay the tile and the roof is correctly installed.

Finished tile wall detail

There are other methods to do wall details as well. This example was used because it’s a common method used in the southwest. Whatever method  you use the principals are all the same. The underlayment always has a flashing over the top.

If after reading this and you still not sure of the source of your leak try to find a roofing contractor that also offers window service. This way you will be able to get it fixed, and not have to pay some roofer who can’t fix it  a service call fee.

Identifiying a window leak:

If you develop a leak around a window.

 Is the water coming from the top of the window frame (usually the corners) or is it coming from the celing above the window frame.

If the water is coming from the cornners of the window frame then it is more likely a window leak and not a roof leak.

If the water is coming in from the celing above the window it’s probably a roof leak.

Some common causes of window leaks are due to

1. improper window mositure barrier (most likely not this).

2. Dry rotted, cracked seals. (most likely)

3. Plugged window weeps (depends on window type).

4. Cracked stucco.

5. Defective windows or window installation ( this is being seen more and more).

Below is a picture of defective window glass. If your home or property has windows that look similer to the pictures below and your home is less than 10 years old then you may have a constuction defect lawsuit, and may be entitled to compensation.

Defective window seal

The above picture shows defective window glass. The problem here is an inproper seal in between the two panes of glass.

If your windows look like this you may be entitled to compensation.

1. Caulking gun.

2. Urethane Caulking.

3. Polyester fabric (ty-tex tape)

4. Elastomeric roof coating and paint brush.

The first step is to clean the area of repair and apply the urethane caulking.

Parapet wall split

Step 2. Apply a heavy coat of elastomeric roof coating to repair area.

Apply elastomeric roof coating

Step 3. Lay the polyester fabric across the repair area make sure the fabric runs past the repair area at least 2 inches on all sides.

Polyester fabric

step 4. Apply 1 more coat of elastomeric roof coating on top of the polyester fabric and brush or roll the coating in.

Apply one more coat of elastomeric coating

Now the repair is finished this is what it should look like.

Finished wall repair

Doing this kind of repair yourself can save you alot of money. The leak was obvious and now you can do it yourself. A leak like this can end up in hundreds if not thousands of dollars in damages. Regular roof  inspections can and often find these kinds of problems before they cause any damage from water intrusion.

I was on one recently and took some pictures. The foam application part of the roof is just about as good as they come, but Cementitious part of the roof is as bad as they get.

The application of a Cementitious roof is as follows:

1. Polyurethane foam is applied at a thickness of the roof spec. usually @ 1 1/2 inches or greater.

2. An elastomeric roof coating is applied @ about 1 gal. per 100sqft.

3. A second coat of elastomeric roof coating is applied @ 1.5 gal. per 100sqft. At this time a #6 Aggregate is applied into the wet coating @ the rate of about 35-40lbs per 100sqft.

4. All verticles ”anything above the roof surface” walls, pipes, a/c curbs t-tops ect.  are coated with an elastomeric coating.

5. Finally the C-cure is applied over the roof surface. It’s applied in both directions to prevent voids. The dry thickness is 1/4 of an inch. The finished surface should have a smooth apperance with only the top of the aggregate visable.

Below are some pictures of an inproper c-cure application that will lead to premuture roof failure. Also pictured are incorrect repair methods.

Failed c-cure roof due to improper application

Popcorn Looking c-cure roof

This next picture shows a repair done using an elastomeric roof coating. Elastomeric  coating will not stick to c-cure so thats why this repair has failed.

Elastomeric coated c-cure repair

This next picture shows a c-cure repair done using an aluminum roof coating. You can’t use this coating on a c-cure roof.

You can't use aluminum roof coating on a c-cure roof

What happens now?

This deficiency was discoverd during a roof inspection. Good for the owner because the roof  has not yet completely failed. The bad news is a $15000 c-cure recoat 10 years early. The bottom line here is had the building owner used a roofing consultant to over see this roof installation he wouldn’t have the problem he now has. This is more common than you might think.

Normally blisters are not that big of an issue to be concerned with. Unless you have alot of them , They are unusually big  or they are broken. If the blisters are broken then prompt attention is needed to fix them because they can be a source for leaks. It should also be noted that blisters bigger than a baseball should be fixed by a roofing contractor who does foam roofing.

Blisters are fixed as a part of a routine roof re-coat.

In this first picture it identifys a golf ball size blister.

Step 1.

Cut the blister out using a razor knife (bread knifes work the best).

This is a golfball sized blister

Step 2.

Fill the hole with a polyurethane caulking. DO NOT use any other kind of caulking your repair will fail.

Use polyurethane caulking to fill the repair area.

Step 3.

Tool the caulking with a piece of cardboard or putty knife. Make sure you tool the caulking past all of the edges.

Tool the caulking

Step 4.

Coat the repaired area with an elastomeric roof coating. This is a permanent repair.

This is the same process a roofing contractor will use to fix blisters that are baseball sized or smaller and less than a 1/2 inch deep.

Below is a picture of a blister that you should not attempt to fix. If you have one that is broke and might be leaking you can caulk it then have it repaired later.

Volleyball size foam roof blister

1. Keeping trees cut back from the roof.

2. Place rubber snakes or plastic owls in the areas that are being effected. 

In this tutorial I’m going to show you step by step how to fix this type of damage.

Things you will need:

1. Polyurethane caulking, DO NOT use any other kind of caulking they will not work (especially silicone) it will popout of the hole like a plug due to expanding and contracting. 

2. A piece of cardboard or something similar to tool the caulking with.

3. elastomeric roof coating, disposable paintbrush and gloves

4. caulking gun.

This is what tey call bird and bee damage

 Step 1.

Clean off the oxidized foam with a fingernail or brush.

Step 2.

Fill up hole with caulking.

Fill With polyurethane caulking

Step 3.

Tool the caulking with cardboard or putty knife, apply a little pressure to make sure the caulking is down in the hole.

Apply a little pressure to ensure the hole is filled

Step 4.

Apply a generous coat of elastomeric roof coating over the urethane caulking. This is very important with out this coating the suns uv rays will destroy the caulking and your repair will fail.

The finished repair

In this first picture it shows a caulked skylight lens. This is not recommended. Over time the caulking fails and the skylight will leak again

Caulked Skylight Lens

In this picture it shows the reason why the sky light was leaking in the first place. If you look the “weep” (this is where the water comes out of the skylight). Has been caulked and foamed shut, blocking the waters exit. The water traped inside can only fill the trough and leak inside of the house.

This is the inside of the skylight

The operating function is as follows. Water runs in between the lens and the metal frame (see picture 1). Fills up in the trough. The water travels to the cornners and then out through the weep on the side. This skylight is ruined and needs to be replaced. At a price around $150-$200 or more depending on who does it!