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leaking sunroom roof – please help

luhar | Posted in Construction Techniques on August 23, 2014 07:58am

Hi 

We recently purchased a home with an attached sunroom. The sunroom has several leaks in the roof and I’m at a general loss on how to fix them correctly – short of tearing it down and rebuilding. Since the only way to describe the problem is with pictures, I created a blog that has pics and descriptions of the leaks.  

http://leakysunroomroof.wordpress.com/

Thanks in advace!

 

kitchen.uk

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Replies

  1. DanH | Aug 23, 2014 08:04pm | #1

    Simple fix -- just put "kitchen.uk" in your post somewhere.

    1. luhar | Aug 24, 2014 01:07am | #3

      DanH - Thanks! Here is the link to the blog.  

      http://leakysunroomroof.wordpress.com/

      kitchen.uk

    2. User avater
      deadnuts | Aug 24, 2014 04:12pm | #10

      aka "spam" caulk. Cheapest

      aka "spam" caulk. Cheapest stuff out there.

  2. gfretwell | Aug 23, 2014 09:52pm | #2

    Sunroom is a pretty ambiguous term.

    What kind of roof are we talking about? Aluminum pan?

    1. luhar | Aug 24, 2014 01:16am | #4

      Sorry....

      Greg - I'm not familiar with the terminology, but I know it's a snap together kit and has combination roof made of corrugated metal, windows and some kind of styrofoam sandwitched between alimunum sheets. It's leaking in three obvious spots and my feeling is that there isn't a straight forward solution. Maybe you have some advice as to the best possible approach. I updated my original post with the link to the pictures.

      Thanks

      1. gfretwell | Aug 24, 2014 01:53am | #5

        It looks like the caulking has failed. Two ideas spring to mind. There are some roof coatings that might seal this or you could do an aluminum roof over with standing seam pan roof.

        1. luhar | Aug 24, 2014 02:20am | #6

          Thanks Greg - can you recommend a manufacturer of aluminum roofs for this type of application? I'm curious to see my options.

          1. gfretwell | Aug 24, 2014 09:47am | #7

            These panels are rolled from coil stock. Around here one of the main suppliers is Cameron Ashley but they sell through distributors and contractors.

          2. gfretwell | Aug 24, 2014 09:48am | #8

            These panels are rolled from coil stock. Around here one of the main suppliers is Cameron Ashley but they sell through distributors and contractors.

  3. User avater
    deadnuts | Aug 24, 2014 03:53pm | #9

    forest for the trees

    Let's see...a Bucky Fuller structure connecting a leaky glass atrium by way of some sort of gambrel roofed apendage. I hate to break it to you, but it seems to me that some things just aren't worth fixing. Have you considered building an more architecturally integrated (and water proof)  roof over this structure.... or tearing it down and starting again?

    Otherwise, I'm sure that if you throw enough metal flashing, bubblemgum, and caulk at this roof you can cure the immediate ill.

    1. luhar | Aug 24, 2014 07:56pm | #11

      Oh yes - I've considered all of these solutions. We've only owned the house for about two months so I'm still deciding which route to take. Thankfully, it seems to have a professional foundation - so that's a plus. I'll never understand why people spend significant money to build half-a** structures. 

      1. User avater
        deadnuts | Aug 24, 2014 09:58pm | #12

        Hopefully you didn't spend the same significant money buying it.

        1. luhar | Aug 24, 2014 10:28pm | #13

          Nope - we got a good deal on this one.......well, we're just starting the renovations, hopefully I didn't speak too soon.

  4. User avater
    Mike_Mahan | Aug 25, 2014 10:24am | #14

    These "sunrooms" are usually

    These "sunrooms" are usually built with aluminum extrusions and some sort of flexible gaskets. If you decide on a complete re-do, it's probably worth disassembling these parts carefully for possible inclusion in a future design that is not such a mixture of different stuff. I suspect that most of your leaks are due to poor craftsmanship and successive add ons that were improperly integrated into previously constructed parts. Failure of individual components of the prefab structrue is probably due to improper installation.

    1. luhar | Aug 25, 2014 01:37pm | #15

      You nailed it Mike - the ultimate problem with this structure is poor craftsmanship. They integrated all kinds of different components and most of the stuff just doesn't fit together. 

    2. gfretwell | Aug 25, 2014 07:16pm | #18

      The ones we see in Florida use pan roof that interlocks together or uses a drive flange with no gaskets necessary.

      I have some each. The drive flange type is the simpler design, just a single layer.  The interlocking roof usually gets 3" of foam insulation dropped in and a cover piece over that.

      The roof products start at the bottom of page 16

      http://landisaluminum.com/Aluminum%20Catalog.html

      1. luhar | Aug 25, 2014 07:25pm | #19

        Thanks Greg - I've been trying to find a link to something like this that has a list of the different products....

        1. gfretwell | Aug 26, 2014 01:41am | #20

          The trick is finding a local distributors who will sell to the general public. Around here the aluminum contractors have a strangle hold on the suppliers and they make sure the mark up makes their installtion look like a deal.

          You might be able to order the 3" riser pan from HomeDepot/Lowes for about $4 a square foot. Wholesale is less than half that.

          1. luhar | Aug 26, 2014 02:44am | #21

            I'm starting to realize that this is a common theme in many construction products, but that kind of markup on an aluminum part is crazy. 

  5. DanH | Aug 25, 2014 01:48pm | #16

    I'm fairly confident that this could be fixed, without a total disassembly, but it would take a careful on-site examination.

    Probably the most practical fix would be a combination of flashing and glopping.  Eg, you might install the L flashing you speak of at the top joint, but notch around that center joining strip and glop that area.  But it would take on-site examination to say for sure.

    1. luhar | Aug 25, 2014 03:45pm | #17

      That is encouraging - with the rainy season coming up fast I am starting to lean this direction to hold me over until next summer. Maybe I'll rip the brown flashing off and see if I can get creative with that too. I know I can't make it leak any worse than it already does. The sagging main beam concerns me too though - I would think that size beam would be more than enough to support this type of roof. Maybe it's due to all the knots?

  6. dalenpalmer | Jan 27, 2015 01:25am | #22

    At online, we have the best services for roof repairs. Before we can utilize better to examine the exact problem of the roof and start the work for the roofs.

    roof repair companies

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