Leaking Outhouse Roof - Help Needed

[paul1983]

Hi all,

I'm a total DIY novice, just moved into my first house this year, and have discovered that my outhouse roof is leaking and appears to be in need of sharpish repair.

As said I'm a novice so any advice you guys are willing to give, I would appreciate in thicko terms lol.

I've been up on the roof itself and it looks to be a sort of concrete material, rough not smooth. I noticed my neighbour has a sort of grey thick sheeting like material over her outhouse roof.

Basically I want to get this repaired or at least patched up over the winter but I'm fearful a roofer will charge the earth, which I can't really afford at the minute.

Can anyone give me some basic advise as to how to go about this.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

 

[Deluks]

Corrugated grey asbestos sheeting?

Firstly don't climb up on it, and don't try to remove it at the moment. There are precautions that should be observed before removing asbestos sheeting, and disposal can be a pain in the ... / or expensive.

Secondly, are you sure it's leaking? Condensation is a problem at this time of year as moisture condenses on the cold roof internally, and then drips off, giving the impression of a leak.

If it is leaking, you can buy tins of paint-on roof repair mastic.

See this thread: //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=155310

Short term fix would be to chuck a tarpaulin over it and leave it til spring/summer. Long term would be to remove it and replace with fibre cement sheeting (which looks identical to the asbo sheets) or the cheaper option would be the corrugated bitumen sheets they sell in wickes.

 

[paul1983]

Thanks for the reply.

I don't think it's asbestos sheeting. It just looks like concrete, in fact it probably is. If the weather's ok tomorrow I'll try to get up and take a picture of it.

I thought first of all it was condensation because there is limited ventilation in the outhouse, god knows why but whoever put a window in before had one with no opening on it - just a glass pane.

To be honest I couldn't say if it's condensation or leaking, what makes me think it might be condensation is that the water seems to hang on the ceiling rather than drip as I would presume a leak would. The far corner of the outhouse, (part with least ventilation) has brown marks on the ceiling and wall.

Don't think I said in my initial post, it's a flat roof.

 

[Deluks]

Asbestos sheeting is 99% concrete, the asbestos refers to the fibres added to the sheets for strength. Is it corrugated? How thick is it?

Droplets sound like condensation.

 

[Xenon]

Its probably a poured slab, often left un waterproofed. If there is heating in there it will condensate, but they do often leak, easy fix with some Decothane or similiar.

 

[MadAlicesDad]

My mother-in-law seems to have the same problem in her outhouses as the OP, and again has only recently moved in and so does not know what to expect in them wrt dampness. The house is a circa 1950 ex-council house and the buildings (coal shed, outside loo and toolshed) are all covered by a continuous poured concrete slab about 4-6 inches thick (definitely not asbestos sheet).
The buildings (by definition) are outdoors, so I can't see that it is purely condensation, and although I've not seen the leak, she says water is pouring in especially after it has rained. I thus conclude a leaking roof! I had noticed several 'stalagtites' hanging down, again suggesting leak or penetration of the slab.

I'm visiting this weekend and hope to find/fix the leak(s), but any clues what to look for, and how to fix it?

Could it be an obvious crack, if so would mastic do the job (at least temporarily?)

If I can't find anything obvious then I guess it's a tarpaulin and battens until such time as it can be investigated properly.

Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Alternatively if you are a roofer in or around Burnley, I may need your services - please PM me.

TIA
Mike