Very OT: Question for the Brits amoungst us

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I can't think of anything I'd want which I don't already have ... boring or what!

Mary

I'd say you are VERY blessed! I would settle for that kind of boredom any day! I have a number of wants that aren't luxuries but that I don't count as needs although some people might (e.g., various home repair projects that have been waiting for years, some things that would make my life a ton easier but I can live without if I don't have the money for it, etc.).

Sounds like you have gotten to the po>

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in message news:46e04dca$0$27174$ snipped-for-privacy@news.sonic.net...

Oh we have those - money isn't the problem but time is :-) But with age we realise that they're not really all that important ...

Our lives have become governed by crisis management - things are done when they're absolutely necessary or unavoidable. For instance, I decided that it would be easier if our drive opening were a foot or so wider to allow less bothersome access for the caravan. We use the caravan a couple of times a year, the next time will be on 14 September. So he's doing it - and enjoying all the demolition of a pier, rebuilding it further from its original position, making a retaining wall for the soil which had piled up behind it and re-making the gates. Keeps him out of my hair, as a reward I made a splendid meal tonight but now we're both b*ggered and off to bed.

We deserve some reward :-)

Yes, and it's good. Stop struggling, just enjoy life. It's too short not to enjoy it. We're not bored, there's no time for that.

Mary .

Welcome back, Murielle! I've actually not been on for a while myself... just stopping in briefly from time to time.

Yeah, the main thing for ourselves that we want and *need* to do (when we have the money for it) is to re-tar the flat sections of roof. Matthew has done them twice since we moved into this house 3 1/2 years ago, but with the winter freezing and then cracking the stuff... it's leaking badly again. I said this time we are going to have to get a few extra buckets of the stuff so he can put a THICK coating on in the hopes that it will work better. We sure aren't getting any help from any of the sources we've tried... they want three estimates, and most roofers I've called at booked solid until next February... the roof can't wait that long to be repaired... but without the financial sources, it may very well have to. Meanwhile, when it rains we have to set out buckets and pots. *shrug* Oh well... whatcha gonna do?

Turn it into a slightly sloping roof! You don't need to alter the ceiling beneath it, just the profile.

End of problems.

Mary

We'd love to do that and have talked about it a few times... however, the materials to do that would cost more than the buckets of tar and we can't even afford to buy enough buckets of tar at the moment. It would be easier for us to save enough for the buckets of tar than the lumber, etc to slope the roof. Good idea though, thank you! :o)

This is nothing to do with textiles but that won't stop me :-) 'Thread' drift can be justified :-)

You could make a simple frame from scrap timber over the existing flat roof then cover it with roofing felt. That doesn't need tarring and will last for years if fastened down properly with felting nails. It would be a lot cheaper even in the short run!

Come to think of it, roofing 'felt' can be justified too

Hugs,

Mary

Thank you, Mary! Good ideas... we will look into roofing felt. Personally I've never heard of it... but what do I know?!? ;o)

You might know it as mineral roofing felt, look at

Hugs,

I just looked over that entire page. Could be "tar paper" which tells you to look under "felt" (I had never heard it called that before). You know... I said to Matthew that I bet the friend of a friend who "fixed" (ahem) the flat foyer roof last year didn't even put tar paper down before putting shingles on it as I don't remember even seeing any tar paper out in the yard at all.... and that roof leaked more after it was fixed than it had before. Of course it was done for free, so no one can call in a complaint about it. I had also said to Matthew that when we can gather up enough money to do so, we should get a few rolls of tar paper to put on the foyer roof as well as the bigger back roof that is over our laundryroom, kitchen and bathroom

The "Mineral-surfaced roofing" just sounds like regular shingles which the guy did put on the foyer roof... with no tar paper, I'm sure, between that and the wood... and it leaks like a basket.

We'll figure something out yet... hopefully before the very rainy (and snowy) season gets here.

Thanks for your input and the link. :o)

If the roof is flat, shingles are useless! They are designed for a sloping roof, and a fairly steep slope at that. If the slope is too shallow, cut shingles won't work but roll roofing can work. Even roll roofing still needs a layer of moisture barrier underneath, just like shingles.

Most stores that have flat roofs also have buckets set out when it rains. Really shallow or flat roofs need a complete seal, which is hard to do.

I think there's a more modern equivalent of tar paper that lasts longer, but it ought to have been put down under the shingles. I bet he used nails that were too long, too. For flat roofs there is a rubbery kind of stuff that is slightly heat-melted after it is installed so it seals any pin holes that happened.

You might be better off with a metal roof such as is sold for barns. It's noisy in the rain but since all the edges of pieces are raised up from the surface and covered over, there are no leaks. Construction glue will hold it on - there is construction glue that is stronger than the wood, and no nail holes to leak.

=Tamar

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Interestingly (well, to me!) when I was a governor of a flat roofed school we were having problems with leakage so we called in roofing advisers.

They explained that flat roofs were developed on the theory that, being flat, no water could pool on the surface, it wouls all run off.

Now that's fine in theory but doesn't allow for very light differences in levels - which are impossible to avoid.

Gravel (in this country at least) on roofs collects tiny particles which stick to it and gradually form a plant-rooting medium. Once plants are established even the best and hardest material can withstand the determination of roots to grow. They can - and do - split huge rocks. Even on the finest polished glass algae will grow, gradually thicken and host plant seeds.

Apart from continuous maintenance there's no good answer to any flat roof - except to raise it at one end and make it slope :-)

Mary

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No doubt! I said the exact same thing, but I was told the guy who did it "for free" knew what he was doing because he had worked as a roofer before. Yeah... and that's why it leaked *more* after he "fixed" it than it had before he came here at all, a couple of weeks later when we had a big rain storm. Free.... only goes to prove, you get what you pay for! *sigh*

I am having two roofers (I actually managed to find two who aren't booked up to next February) coming to look and give estimates. Then I am gathering those two estimates along with the other one I already have from a local company, *and* copies of pictures I have taken of the inside showing all the leak damage on the ceilings, and the buckets and bowls etc catching the water and sending them in to Disability on my behalf and Ontario Works on Matthew's behalf and see if they *might* do something to help. The one guy who looked last week told me that without even lifting up the existing stuff on the roof now, he can see that it is toast and desperately needs to be replaced before it just gives out completely. He is also the second one who has told me that "repairing" it is not going to fix the problem, just prolong it... because it has worn out it's life and "patching" it in one or two spots will only make the water find different places to come in.

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Wise advise.

Stitch in time comes to mind - AND gets back on topic :-)

Mary

Thank you for the lovely welcome. It's good to be back. Takes me a long time to catch-up on the posts, though. That's a good thing.

Sorry to hear about your roofing problems. One of the pluses of renting is that those kind of issues are the landlord's responsibility. And if you're really lucky you have a landlord who actually takes his/her responsibilities seriously.

Good luck with your roofing! Murielle