Roof damage - Sandy - now nor'easter - advice please

11 years ago

I have an area of my roof without shingles (though the tar paper is still there) due to Sandy. I called my regular roofer guy, but with virtually every other house having roof damage, barring some miracle today, will not be repaired prior to the nor'easter. The area is about 10' x 5'. (Right on the north side - lovely). It is way way to high and steep to get up there and put a tarp down.

I am virtually sure that we will get water intrusion with the upcoming storm. I can access the attic under the area. I am considering putting tarps down on the insulation. I am not sure how easily we can do it. Part of the area is over a 2 story foyer and we do not want to be stepping there - though perhaps crawling along might be possible.

Is it worth trying or should I just let it hit the insulation and drip through the wallboard and then place buckets to catch it?

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Comments (2)

homebound
11 years ago
I'd probably leave it be and worry about my safety.

If the tarpaper remains, it should do it's job. But if it gets blown off, I'd be inclined (if I shelter in place) to put some buckets under any drips in the attic. Leave some boards to lay across the joists to support buckets, walking, etc. I would not be doing this in a storm with 100 mph winds, but in 70mph, maybe.

But you might make a slope of plastic over the cathedral portion of your ceiling to limit drywall damage to other areas with normal ceiling height.

Safety first!
GreenDesigns
11 years ago
If you have a neighbor or handyman guy with a ladder who does feel comfortable getting up high, you can do a really temporary patch on top of the tar paper with some brushed on asphalt driveway sealer. (We used an old worn out broom.) I had a roofer recommend that to us since our installation of the metal roof is going so slow and there have been a couple of times that rain was imminent and we just couldn't get things covered completely. We've used it on top of the old plywood sheathing that we are replacing, and on top of the tar paper as a temp waterproof coating, and it DOES keep out the water if you have enough time for it to dry. Now, it is kinda rough, and it would need to be removed when the roof is repaired, but it can get you through the next couple of days or weeks even.
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