After 25 years, the foam roof on the old homestead is in serious need of
a new foam job, and couldn’t be ignored anymore. So with the spray guy’s accepted bid in hand, I, being dumer than your average bear, volunteered
to clean and prepare the foam surface for the new new foam topping. Well, how hard can that be? After trying various grinders, brushes, and sanders, they all work but a heck of a lot of work and slow going.
Think, think, hey how about modifying the great runnin Honda mower? Well, it’s got four wheels, controllable clutch, power drive, how hard can this be.
The photos show the process of experimentation. Mark I sort of worked but not like when in the angle grinder, Mark II worked but not clean cut, Mark III was just a modification of the cutting edge of the bolt head. Finally came Mark IV, and actually the simplest of all. Just turn the blade upside down and space it an inch and a half out with a nice piece of oak, and then sharpen the backside of the blade.
Viola! Works like a champ.
The big pain is the cleanup. Foam chips everywhere and none in the catcher bag!! We did this after a rain and the wet foam kept the dust way down. Two of us, in about 3 hours did about 1000 sq. ft. of roof. Tomorrow we will clean up the edges and a few areas by the penetrations and that should do it. This is one of those things that is fun only once!
Replies
i've got so much to learn here i don't know where to start.
is this roof just sprayed with a foam and thats all? no other protection from the elements and it last 25 years. this looks like a flat roof correct?
now,when it comes time to redo you mow off a couple inches or do you go clear down to the deck and start over?
i can only guess what your neighbors thought when they saw you mowing your roof,next time you might try a zero turn riding mower,might as well sit down and drive around with a cool one in your hand. larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
No it wasn't bare foam, it was coated a few times but not with the proper coating. Not quite a flat roof. 2/12 Just mowing down to clean foam and leveling. Probably will have a couple of inches left and spray guy will add one new inch and coat.The history here is that the house is an open beam ceiling with 3/4 inch knotty pine decking and then 1/2 inch Celotex and then tar and gravel roofing. The R was around 3 and not wanting to change the inside look, I foamed it. I bought the equipment from a guy that built a house in the mountains out of foam and when he finished, put the equipment up for sale. Bought it for $2500. Bought two 50 gallon drums of chemicals and sprayed it. It worked but what a fiasco, the equipment was early generation and clogging was a major issue and the story is often told at family gatherings about the time the old man foamed the neighborhood!! Bicycles, cars, patios, what ever was in sight!!Anyway, sold the equipment after I was done for $2500 so my cost was just for the supplies, which as I remember was just under $1000.The payback was less than 4 years for that insulation. Now the payback for the new inch will be around 30 years. I originally planned on adding 3 inches but when I ran the payback calculations, it came out over 200 years but that was for a higher bid I had so it probably is a little less time than that. Nobody gets in to see the wizard...not nobody...not no how!
Very darn clever! Thanks for sharing the pics and all. Are you going with an acrylic, a urethane, or a silicone coating on the new top layer of foam?
It must have been a hoot for the neighbors.
Bill
Great idea! I love the visual.
Forrest
Congratulations!
gstringe receives the novel 'DIY?Don'tsaynotome' award for effort and accomplishment above and beyond the majority of the population.
Saluuute!
http://www.amazon.com/G-String-COLORS-Cobalt-Purple-Y-Back/dp/B000FUJ3WG/ref=pd_sbs_a_2_img/104-8526665-9038320
sobriety is the root cause of dementia.
Hey thanks for the positive comments, I appreciate it. It is a hoot to kludge things together to do things you ordinarily couldn't do...but thats just me, bailing wire duct tape and even a little smoke and ozone and I'm in my zone....Nobody gets in to see the wizard...not nobody...not no how!
why did you leave off the bagging attachment ?
It is on there, it just doesn't work with the blade upside down as the propeller effect is now in reverse and it blows the chips out.Nobody gets in to see the wizard...not nobody...not no how!
Great idea! I love the visual.
Forrest