Leaking Roof - Maybe with a Twist

[weegieavlover]

Hi All,

First off I apologise for the length of this post, just want to give as much information as I can.

I have what I call 2 brick built sheds in my back garden. However these are the old coal and ash storage buildings.

They are separated by a single brick wall, each have a wooden door (we had them fitted) with, what I can only describe as, a roof made up of old rubble and brick that have been set in concrete – this is original as far as I know.

So if you look at It front on you have the two doors.
The outside left wall is 2 bricks thick and rises above the level of the roof by about 3ft. However there is a section that is only 1 brick thick that (I assume) used to be a door where the coal used to be loaded into from the lane. There is also a wooden lintel at the point above the door and that is rotten and very wet from water.

The outside right wall is actually attached to the end of the house, so again, is 2 bricks thick and rises above the roof level.

The rear wall also rises above the height of the roof by about 3ft and (I think) is 2 bricks thick.

I wanted to use these buildings for storage however with the walls being as wet as they are it is currently not possible. I had the roof tar felted and the felt went up the wall by about 6-8 inches. I then had lead flashing put round the top of felt on all walls.

I thought this would stop all the leaks and I would have fairly sound, waterproof sheds. Sadly my walls to the rear and right still seem to be wet to the touch.

I can take pictures but I am looking for advice as to what my next steps should be. I never carried out the roof work, I got pros into do it and I trust their workmanship.

I have some pictures of the outside and in (although it was dark when taken them) that I can provide, however if more pictures are needed then I can provide them as well.

I am not sure how to fix this problem, but hopefully a DIYer based solution can be used. All suggestions welcome, regardless of cost, but I do not have a load of cash to throw at this so the more pocket friendly the better.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

All sounds a bit confusing- pics would help.

One biggie- are the tops of the wall capped with anything? (Row of bricks on edge, coping stones, slate etc)- if not then that'll be a ready source of wet walls. Or if they are capped, is the pointing in good nick (or like my old shed walls is it falling to pieces)

Next one- the leadwork- is it chased into the walls or is it just bodged up the wall face (and is it lead or is it Flashband?)

Third one- what's ground level like on the far side of the wall (into the lane where the coalman used to chuck coal in). Does rainwater pool at the bottom of the wall in the lane?

Some easy ones for you to look at- get the phone out and get some photos done

 

[weegieavlover]

All sounds a bit confusing- pics would help.

One biggie- are the tops of the wall capped with anything? (Row of bricks on edge, coping stones, slate etc)- if not then that'll be a ready source of wet walls. Or if they are capped, is the pointing in good nick (or like my old shed walls is it falling to pieces)

Next one- the leadwork- is it chased into the walls or is it just bodged up the wall face (and is it lead or is it Flashband?)

Third one- what's ground level like on the far side of the wall (into the lane where the coalman used to chuck coal in). Does rainwater pool at the bottom of the wall in the lane?

Some easy ones for you to look at- get the phone out and get some photos done

I have attached a few photos - most are at night but discovered one I had one from during the day:

Roof and lead work when roof was felted and lead flashing installed - about 6months ago:
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taken last night
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Inside of the left shed - with the rotten wooden lintel - also shows the wall is damp/wet (not my best pic it has to be said)
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Inside the left shed - back wall hopefully you can clearly see the wall is wet near the top and drying nearer the bottom.
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To answer the questions:
1) The top of the walls have a flag or coping stone, whatever they are called. Then underneath them they have this brittle felt-like stuff under with concrete or cement - hard to see in the photos.

2) The Lead work is chased into the wall - I am no roofer or builder but think they have made a decent job of it.

3) so on the "lane side" of the wall there is a grassy verge. However nothing too mental. In my limited knowledge I would say the water is falling down rather than rising up.

The floors in each shed are a little wet but only where the walls are, which to me appears to suggest the water coming down rather than up.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I'd agree with you about the water coming down not up (especially the back wall) and it doesn't look like seepage either from the run marks

Tricky to tell from the pics but the margin between the felt and the lead looks a bit big. Can you remember how much upstand was on the felt when they did the roof?

Since it is fairly accessible you might want to try some experiments with hosepipe/buckets of water- wait for a dry day (oh sorry you're up there, wait for a dryish day ) then pour a bucket of water on the roof only (don't splash it up the wall) and see what comes through onto your wall and how quickly. Screwfix sell some colouring you can use if you need to but think that would be premature. If the wall stays dry from water on the roof then try spraying the wall with your hosepipe & see what happens.

Doesn't look as if there's much fall on the roof- does water pond up there or does it flow away reasonably?

 

[weegieavlover]

Thanks for the suggestion. Like you said with the weather like it is & being in Jockland I could be waiting until July for dry weather

The roof does not pool with water & drips off.

I suppose I just need to wait a while to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[weegieavlover]

Its been a while as I have had a busy summer and not be able to do as much DIY as I had hoped.

On Sunday I went up to have a look at things in preperation for me doing some work to try and stop the leaks.

I looked over the back wall at my neighbours side, their roof is higher then mine and is almost at the height of the flag stones on the top of the roof.

We got some work done about year ago and the builder was meant to clear a whole load of rubbish of our roof (he was a terrible tradesman and I would never let him on anyones property if I had the chance to stop him). I discovered that instead of clearing the rubbish that we had paid him to do (along with other jobs) he had just put it on the other side of the will on our neighbours shed roof. I was ragin when I discovered that and we are lucky our neighbours do not use this or spotted him doing it.

I spent the afternoon on the Sunday doing it myself and taking the rubbish up to the tip. WHen doing this I also cleared out some foliage that was, I then took pictures if what I saw.

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Any chance of recommendations on how best to deal with these cracks? Is Mortar the best option or is sealing it with some sort of external sealant better then convering that with mortar and/or flashband?

I hope to fix this during the week then at the weekend do a water test on the rood as suggested earlier.

 

[weegieavlover]

Hey All,

Just a quick update - I think I have it sorted.

I chiselled out old mortar that had broken or cracked or had just turned to wet sand. I then filled the gaps in the brickwork and capping stones with new mortar. the crack along the neighbours roof and I filled with a flexible outdoor waterproof silicone and then filled over with Mortar.

I did a few water tests and nothing seemed to get in, but I needed to wait a few days for a proper rainfall test.

Since doing this work it has rained fairly heavily a few days and the sheds, I am happy to say are bone dry, I am extremely pleased and can now be used as proper sheds, however I will wait until the spring before I sort out the inside of them with new mortar and the clad with wood.

Thanks for the advice and help from everyone.

Col