Burnett Roof Repair

The problem:


Ms. Burnett had a roof water leak that had been leaking for a long while. The drywall on the ceiling and wall in the back room was dissolving.

I went up on the roof to see what was going on.

The wall flashing was a long run of galvanized angle flashing with shingles glued to it. The steel flashing was lifted up underneath the roofing causing separation and stressing out the shingles that was glued to it.

A previosuly done patch job of different colored shingles was installed with three inch joints stagger stacked atop each other for six feet. This roofing faux pas easily allowed draining water to zig-zag down and under the shingles.

 


The window was missing a few glass panes and the ancient siding had holes in it which could have allowed for rain water to enter into the house.

My obvious recommendation was to re-roof the entire roof (28 squares), reside the walls, and install energy efficient windows. Being a working mom, her finances wouldn't allow for such an endeavor.

My next practical solution was to stop the leak by replacing the flashing along the wall, fix the original patch work, and also board up the unused window overlooking the roof.  








I began tearing off the layered roof covering along the wall up the rake. The laps used on the patch job became obviously apparent as the shingles came off and moisture was found beneath the jointed area.

I found several other minor water leaks that came from rusted nails and broken shingles.

 Ms. Burnett still owned 5 bundles of brown shingles from the previous roofing attempt, so in the spirit of saving the homeowner money, I was given the okay to use up the bundles she already owned, being the roof is 2 stories and unseeable. 








I rewove the shingles through the patch and used a step flashing system against the wall. The step flashing is stacked atop each shingle layer allowing for water to flow down over the next lower shingle. I also sealed the tops and bottoms of the step flashing with cement as I went up the rake.

This is my preferred method (even though it is more involved) of flashing a wall.  It looks cleaner and more professional than the slap it on and glue it down type of flashing. Exposed roofing cement tends to becomes brittle and start cracking after a year or so.








I sealed all the older tabs that was pried loose with sealant. The air was pretty cool that day and all that was needed was a warm sunny day to set the freshly installed shingles. We boarded up the window with plywood sheathing and silicone, screwing it in place with screws for easy removal in the future.














Once I had the roofing fixed and water tight, the interior of the back room was next to be addressed. The water damage was pretty extensive on the ceiling and the side wall. Mold and mildew had begun to form and it required the removal and replacement of all water damaged materials.














I removed a 6'x7' area of water damaged drywall on the ceiling. The water damaged drywall on the wall was brittle and the entire studded wall bounced back and forth when pushed. All the drywall on the 14' tall x 7' long wall was removed and further extensive water damage was thus discovered.

The floor bounced quite a bit when jumped on and the bottom of the wall swung out away from the floor. The bottom of the studs, the floor wall plates and exterior floor band and joists were practically nonexistent due to wood rot and major termite damage. The homeowner was then notified of the new developments that needed to be addressed immediately. With the home owner's blessings and a change order in hand, I began the work.






The main oak carrier beam was in great shape, so I jacked and shored all the floor joists back to it and replaced the wall floor plate that had turned to dust. Even though there was extensive termite damage done, no termites were found.

The wall studs that were damaged also held the exterior lap siding of which the homeowner didn't want removed and rehung due to the extraneous cost of the labor that would be involved to do it. I heavily nailed new studs next to the old studs and then hung all the new drywall on these new studs.









I taped the joints and skimmed coated the entire wall and ceiling, sanding it all down to a smooth finish. The crown moulding and door moulding were reused and everything sealed, primered and painted with two coats of paint.

When I first pulled off the heavy, solid oak back door, the hinges were partly screwed into the old drywall and the old door trim. This allowed the door to sag and the hinges to flop, causing the door to drag across the floor. Instead of using drywall for a backer under the interior door trim again, I used a three inch wide, 1/2" thick strip of plywood. This made for a more solid unit to screw the 3" hinge screws into.







I was contracted to just paint the three walls and the portion of ceiling that was rebuilt, but I decided that the over all job would not look good with the room showing two different paint jobs: the old marred up paint next to the newly painted walls.

It not being that big of a deal to me at this time, I wanted this project to look good. I went ahead and painted the entire room at no extra cost to the homeowner so as to make for a complete job that looked good.




Oh, by the way, this house is for sale. Store front property on mid Magazine St., New Orleans. A great fixer upper for $470,000.00.















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