Home Maintenance For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Carey, James

  Of these alternative materials, metal is the fastest-growing. Here’s why: Unlike asphalt or wood shingles, metal doesn’t rot, crack, or grow fungus or algae. It can last more than 50 years. And if it’s installed properly, metal requires very little, if any, ongoing maintenance. All you can really do is screw it up by walking around on it. Be aware that metal roofing is more than just those big, flat, shiny panels you see on houses in the southeastern United States. Today, metal comes in profiles that mimic virtually every type of roofing material. You won’t believe what you can find — and you should see the colors available!

  Sometimes we forget about tile roofs. They’re terribly expensive, and their use is virtually limited to homes with Mediterranean architecture. But they never need repair, and a well-installed tile roof can last up to 75 years. If a tile roof is appropriate for your home, it’s actually a good value when you spread the cost out over the life of the roof.

  And that’s not all. Chemists, engineers, and wizards continue to work to develop new higher-performance, eco-friendly roofing materials. Reflective shingles, heat-reflective roof underlayment, systems that create an insulating airspace beneath the roof covering, advances in waterproofing underlayment membranes, and so on are just the beginning. Although most of these new products are years away from being available to the public, we think their “green-ness” will help them succeed in the marketplace.

  Applying preservative to wood shingles

  The preservative restores the natural oils to the wood fibers, safeguards the roof from fungus and rot, and protects the roof from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. You see both oil-based and water-based preservatives at the stores; we prefer the oil-based type because it penetrates deeper, combats weather stress better, and lasts longer.

  You can add pigments to non-pigmented preservatives to improve ultraviolet protection. An added benefit is that the pigment evens out the surface colors so that you can’t tell the difference between the older shingles and the new ones that were used to make patches.

  To apply the preservative, choose a calm, breeze-free day (to ensure that the majority of the product ends up on the roof and not on your neighbor’s new car). Then just spray the oil onto the roof, being sure to work backward from the low end to the high end and careful not to walk on an already treated area, which could be very slippery (refer to Figure 5-1). When the surface becomes shiny, stop spraying in that area and move on.

  Although you can apply preservative with a garden-type pump sprayer, you can perform the task more professionally and in less time by using an airless paint sprayer, which you can rent from a paint store or tool-rental outlet.

  The naked truth about flashing

  Most apparent roof leaks are really flashing leaks. You can take super-good care of your roof and still get leaks if you don’t also take care of your flashing. Here’s why: Roof flashing creates a watertight connection where the roof joins a wall, as when a first-story roof connects to a second-story wall. Roof flashing also creates watertight connections between the roofing and items that penetrate it, including plumbing pipes, furnace flues, skylights, and chimneys. Good, tight flashings around chimneys, vents, skylights, and wall-roof junctions are the key to preventing water infiltration — and damage to walls, ceilings, insulation, and electrical systems.

  Caulking around the flashing

  The most effective way to prevent leaks is to keep a close eye on the places where flashings meet vertical surfaces. Prone to gaps where old caulk fails, those meeting points always must be well sealed. Use a good-quality exterior-grade caulk and then follow these steps:

  1. Scrape and wire-brush away any loose caulk, flaky paint, old adhesive, and rust, if there is any.

  You can find rust-removal steps in the next section.

  2. If the flashing is no longer stuck to the vertical surface, use a scraper to slide a smear of flashing adhesive on the back side of the flashing. Bend the flashing as little as possible. Hold until firmly adhered.

  3. Caulk the edges to prevent water infiltration.

  4. If desired, paint when dry to match the flashing color.

  Removing rust

  Although some flashings are made of lead or copper, most are made of galvanized sheet metal or aluminum. And that means rust or corrosion. And rust or corrosion can mean leaks. So another way to prevent flashings from leaking is to keep them from rusting. Applying a good coat of paint every few years generally does the trick.

  You need the following items:

  A box of trisodium phosphate (TSP), mixed to the manufacturer’s specifications

  Sandpaper or a wire brush

  A paintbrush

  A can of rust converter

  A can of latex paint

  Follow these steps to eliminate rust on your flashing:

  1. Wash the surface with the TSP.

  The TSP etches (chemically roughens) the painted surface.

  2. Use the sandpaper or the wire brush to remove all rust.

  3. Clean away the dust and use the paintbrush to apply the rust converter.

  The rust converter acts as a primer while converting leftover rust to an inert material.

  4. When the rust converter is dry, apply the latex paint as a finish coat.

  To make your roof flashings, vent pipes, and flue caps less obvious and more aesthetically pleasing, make them the same color as the roofing material.

  One type of roof flashing, called vent pipe flashing, incorporates a rubber grommet held by a sheet of metal that seals the connection between a plumbing vent pipe and the roof. This grommet is located at the centermost portion of the flashing and presses evenly all around the plumbing vent pipe. Do not paint the rubber section — ever. You can keep this rubber grommet in good condition by applying a rubber preservative every year or two.

  Dealing with all that dam ice

  If you have icicles, you may have an ice dam. And if you have an ice dam, you may soon be fighting a roof leak. Here’s why: When snow falls on a roof, it seals the roof, which becomes almost airtight. As the house warms to a nice toasty temperature, heated air escapes into the attic. As the attic gets warmer, it melts the snow on the roof, and water rushes downward toward the overhangs. The moment the liquefied snow hits the cold (uninsulated) overhang, it begins to freeze. The water that freezes after it rolls over the edge becomes icicles. Water that freezes before it rolls over the edge builds up to create a barrier known as an ice dam, which becomes larger and larger as runoff continues to freeze. Finally, the ice on the overhang widens to the point where it reaches the edge of the attic. At this point, the water remains liquid and the ice dam causes it to back up over the attic where it can leak into the home.

  Ice buildup can also damage rain gutters, causing the need for costly repairs. By preventing ice buildup, you might be able to save your house from being flooded during a freeze and add a little life to your gutters as well.

  To prevent an ice dam, you need to keep the underside of the roof in the attic cold. If the attic is cold, the snow on the roof won’t melt, and ice dams won’t form. Here’s how to make it happen:

  Don’t close off eave and roof vents during the winter. Sealing the vents traps the warm air that can melt the snow on the roof.

  Fill all penetrations between the living space and the attic area with foam sealant. You can buy expanding foam sealant in a spray can. Look for penetrations in the ceiling in the following places (many may be hidden beneath attic insulation):

  • Plumbing vents

  • Ventilation ducts

  • Heat registers

  • Electric wiring

  • Ceiling light fixtures

  Any hole that can allow heat from the home into the attic is a bad thing.

  Don’t caulk around furnace flues. A flue that contains hot gases should not come into contact with combustibles such as wood or foam sealant. Contact your local heating or sheet-metal contractor and have a metal draft stop installed. The metal draft stop can be seale
d to the pipe and the house frame without creating a fire hazard.

  Check your attic insulation. Be sure that your attic insulation is loose (as opposed to compacted) and that there is a more-than-sufficient amount of insulation up there. Look for gaps in insulation — especially at corners and at the perimeter where the walls and roof framing meet.

  Consider installing an eave-heating device such as heating tape or heating wire (see Figure 5-4). These devices prevent water from freezing on your eave.

  Install special metal flashings at problem eaves. Ice doesn’t stick to the metal as readily as it does to most types of roofing. Metal flashings can be made to order by your local heating or sheet-metal contractor.

  Figure 5-4: An eave-heating device can help prevent dam ice from forming.

  Finding a roof leak

  The first step in repairing a leak is finding its point of origin. Finding a leak can be extremely difficult on a flat roof, so we recommend that, if you have a flat roof, you hire a roofing professional to find the leak and repair it. If you have a pitched roof, you can find the leak yourself. You’ll still probably need to hire a contractor to repair the leak, but being able to tell the contractor where the leak is saves time and shows the contractor that he’s dealing with an informed homeowner.

  To find the origin of a leak on a pitched roof, you conduct a water test. Although it’s not difficult, water testing can be time-consuming and tedious. Be prepared to exercise a bit of patience. The process requires two people — one on the roof and one in the attic (or living space below if no attic exists). You also need the following tools:

  Ladder

  Garden hose

  Flashlight

  Then follow these steps (see Figure 5-5):

  1. Station your partner in the attic and tell her to holler at the first sign of water.

  Where’s the water coming from, you ask? From you, or, more precisely, from your garden hose, as explained in Step 2.

  2. Use the garden hose to run a modest amount of water over the roof at a point below the area where a leak is suspected.

  Don’t run the hose full-blast, don’t use a spray nozzle, and don’t force the water between the shingles. Doing so may force water into the home, creating the illusion that you’ve found a leak when, in fact, you did nothing more than temporarily create one.

  Work from the lowest point of the roof (near the eaves or gutters) in an area of about 4 to 6 feet wide. Work your way up the roof a couple of feet at a time.

  3. Have your helper in the attic let you know the moment he sees water, and mark the spot with chalk.

  A loud yell will do the trick, but an inexpensive pair of kids’ walkie-talkies allows you to communicate clearly without yelling. Better yet, just have your cellphone with you and have her call you from her cellphone when she sees the water.

  Figure 5-5: Water-testing a pitched roof.

  Getting Your Mind into the Gutter

  Gene Kelly probably wouldn’t be remembered as well for his part in Singin’ in the Rain if the movie set had been equipped with rain gutters. As a matter of fact, the producers probably would’ve changed the title of the film to something like He Stayed Dry while Singing near the Rain.

  Gutters are important. Because you’ll be singing in the rain indoors if you don’t properly maintain your gutters and downspouts.

  Cleaning gutters and downspouts

  Gutters and downspouts that are filled with debris can back up, causing roof leaks, rot at the overhang, and structural damage. At least once a year, you need to get up on the ladder and give those gutters and downspouts a good cleaning. Gutters that haven’t been cleaned for a while may be filled with a gross, mud-like muck, which you can scoop out with a small garden trowel or a medium-width putty knife. You may even want to invest $7 in a gutter scoop (a plastic trowel-like scoop made especially for cleaning gutters).

  After you remove the majority of the debris, flush the rest away using a garden hose with a spray nozzle. If the water pressure at your place is weak, you can use a pressure washer to blast out debris. We both own pressure washers just for this purpose.

  Patching up leaks

  When galvanized sheet-metal gutters aren’t properly maintained (regularly cleaned and painted) they tend to rust. As we mention in the “Flashing” section, earlier in this chapter, unpainted metal rusts, and rust results in leaks. The same technique used to maintain roof flashings can be enlisted on gutters.

  When a rusty area turns into a leak, you can make a quick repair. To do so, you need the following tools:

  Wire brush (or a wire wheel mounted on an electric drill).

  Disposable paintbrush.

  Strips of tin foil or plastic (for pinhole leak repairs) or small strips of galvanized sheet metal (for larger hole repairs). Whether the strips are made of foil, plastic, or metal, they need to be just slightly larger than the hole being repaired.

  Rust converter.

  Paint.

  Roofing cement.

  Putty knife.

  If the gutter is sagging, replace the mounting brackets before fixing leaks. You don’t want the gutter shape to change after the leak has been fixed — if the gutter changes shape, a patch could open.

  With your tools assembled, follow these steps to patch the leak:

  1. Use the wire brush or a wire wheel on a drill to remove as much rust from the area as possible.

  2. Apply a coat of rust converter over the repair area.

  The converter renders any minute remnants of rust inert. With rust, you can’t be too careful. Allow the converter to dry completely.

  3. Apply a 1/8-inch-thick coat of roof cement around the leak and, before the cement dries, add a strip of tin foil to the repair area (kind of like taping a Band-Aid to your arm). Use a putty knife to gently flatten the foil and squeeze out the excess cement.

  The total thickness of the repair should not exceed 1/16 inch. If you use too much cement, you may inadvertently create a dam.

  For larger repairs (bigger than a pinhole), use a piece of sheet metal instead of tin foil.

  For badly damaged areas, you can pop-rivet the sheet metal plates into place and seal them with gutter caulking, or you can leave this maintenance task to the sheet-metal contractor.

  4. With the foil (or a strip of sheet metal) in place, use a putty knife to add another thin layer of roof cement, completely covering the patch.

  If the repair area is too large, then you should consider replacing the damaged sections. The style you have is probably still available. But if, for some reason, the gutter profile on your home no longer is made, a sheet-metal contractor can fabricate a perfect match.

  Rust isn’t the only cause of leaks. Occasionally, a gutter seam or joint will open. Catching this problem early on reduces the chance of rust and, possibly, the need for a major repair. You can caulk seams in aluminum and galvanized sheet-metal gutters with a high-quality gutter caulking. Use polyurethane caulk for plastic gutters. In both cases, be sure to thoroughly clean and dry the area before applying the caulk.

  Maintaining gutter-protection systems

  The whole idea of gutter-protection systems is that you don’t have to get up on a ladder and scoop the gloop out of the gutters every fall. But that doesn’t mean your “protected” gutters don’t need a little TLC every now and then. Some leaves, pine needles, and crud still get in. So instead of an annual cleaning, you probably can get away with cleaning them every two years.

  Other, newer gutter-protection systems, including a product that resembles a bottle brush on steroids, are inconspicuous and easy to install. But don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll never need to do anything.