Tim the Tool Man is back to bring you another adventure in home improvement. This time offers a step-by-step guide for any DIY project when your home has an unexpected leak coming from the roof inside your home. One of the first thoughts when you first notice moisture, a water stain, or hear that dripping sound when it rains is that somewhere on your ceiling maybe there is a crack, a little hole where a roofing nail used to be. or some sealant missing around the flashing around the roof vents. In any case, trying to find where that leak is coming from on your roof is like finding a needle in a haystack. In other words, an impossible task to locate exactly where that crack or hole in the ceiling is.
There are many options to consider when faced with preventing further indoor water damage from a leaky roof. The most obvious is the idea that the roof is old and might need a total replacement. That is the most expensive option. One that will cost upwards of $ 5,000 or more depending on the square footage of your roof. For many of us, especially older adults who live with Social Security, that is not the option. The best opportunity to eliminate any leaks, protect the home, and at the same time, if you live in a hot climate like Florida, keep your interior cool on those extremely hot and humid days is to apply a waterproof silicone barrier over the entire the ceiling. .
With the advent of today’s silicone roofing technologies, they have created several sealants that would be more affordable and more practical to apply directly to your roof rather than a total roof repair. Through due diligence and research on the many types of silicone sealants, I recommend Eterna-Lot S-100. Of all the recommendations out there, this is by far the best option for any type of roof. You can order it online, but out of conviction and cost, Home Depot carries this brand. They say timing is everything because I was lucky enough to be at Home Depot when they had Eterna-Lot S-100 for sale. Originally, a 5 gallon pail cost a little over $ 200, but was discounted to $ 70. The square footage of my roof required two 5 gallon drums of this sealant. Much better price than I had opted to replace my roof. In addition there is a 50-year warranty. What a great deal.
There really isn’t much to do once you have the necessary equipment to complete the task at hand of applying this sealant to your ceiling. 5 gallons covers only 500 square feet without the need for primer. What I recommend for a single story home is an 8 foot one. ladder and extendable roller handle with a paint roller designed for rough surfaces considering that our roof is a rolled tile roof. Next, you will need an empty 5 gallon bucket. Once you have these necessary tools, the application is easy to do.
Another caveat is to check the weather forecast before applying. For best results, your roof should be dry and free of debris. If rain is forecast, wait until there are at least two days of hot, dry weather before and after applying this sealer. What I did was wait until the weather was sunny and mild to 65 degrees. And in Florida, during the winter months, 65 degree days are quite common. I started by emptying 2 gallons of Eterna into the empty 5 gallon bucket, which gave me easy access to lift it up to the ceiling. This is because I am no longer Hercules and 5 gallons of this sealant weighs about 100 pounds. So getting that weight up my ladder would have been quite a chore, to say the least.
With a slow-sloping A-frame roof, it is quite easy to get around without safety lines. Just be careful when approaching any edge. That’s why having this roller handle extended was helpful. Starting at the back of the house, I proceeded to roll up this roof coating sealant, working my way to the front. Two and a half gallons of sealant covered 1/4 of the surface of my roof. Four hours later, exhausted from all the uninterrupted application, I am finally done. It was around 3:45 pm approximately the time the instructions stated that “for best results do not apply after 4 pm”. All he had to do now was clean.
Cleaning is relatively easy. Paint thinner is the best option for cleaning the roller and any bead of caulk that has just been splattered on it. I wasn’t so lucky, although I looked down and my legs were splattered with sealant. I probably had more sealant on me than some parts of my roof. Although it is a joke. Anyway, with a clean cloth and paint thinner I managed to clean up any mess I made.
Now is the moment of truth to see how effective this roof sealer really is two days later. It was around two in the morning and it started to rain heavily. Wind gusts exceeded 50 mph and for four hours torrential rain hit the roof. Somewhere during that time, two large tree branches snapped and landed just before our outdoor kitchen, with hardly any roof. In spite of everything, not a drop penetrated our ceiling. Our house was safe and dry.
So if you have a leak somewhere coming from your ceiling and you know it’s not coming from an upstairs bathroom, it could just be coming from a crack or leak somewhere in your ceiling. Instead of replacing your roof, Tim the tool man recommends Eterna-kote S-100 Ultra Silicone Sealant for your roof repairs, even if he finds where the leak is coming from. Works. Tim the tool man, log out until next time.