Roofing sucks!

 

  Especially for someone that doesn't do that kind of work    heres what I've done, discovered.
Shortly after we moved in to the house, we started to notice carpenter ants dropping into our shower stall!  Wife was not at all pleased .  I removed some trim around theskylight over the shower stall and located what I thought was the nest! Yikes..  Vacuumed all that I could reach, sprayed some OTC carpenter ant mixed up juice into the tiny opening between the wood beams in hopes of killing what might have been remaining.
  For a few months the rain of bugs had subsided, but they returned!   It's war now.  I'd been watching all the DIY shows, researching on line roof repair, replacing shingles etc..  I thought I can do this.  So one day I set about to expose the roof, cut it open vacuum what critters I can see, then soak the area with the bug sprayer (Shoot the juice up as far as I could) close up the roof, seal the opening, lay new roof felt, then re-shingle.  All went well, during the shingle removal until I discovered, the roof, had 5 layers of asphalt shingles!  The last time the roof was done, they simply covered the old with new! .
  When I replaced the shingles I only put one layer back.  This caused the roof to not look right at the botton, and under a bathroom vent blower.  I used a lot of roof jack to seal everything up. 
Jump to the wet season. 
  My bathroom ceiling (At a beam) started to drip! .  So, when I rained I had to put up tarps to cover the area I patched.  I failed somehow to maintain a watertight seal up there.  Well, not wanting to worry about the next wet season, I decided to re do the whole thing today.
  I've been thinking about why the roof was leaking, and how I only put one layer back in when the rest has 5 layers.  So today I removed a few more courses upward, completely removed the bathroom vent cover, and I think the leak was under it's flashing.  Laid new roof felt paper, picked up new step flashing (20 Pieces) and began to splice in some old shingles to bring the level shingle level up. The problem I encountered was at the bottom, (First course) was butted up against a flush cut edge of the original roofing layers.  How the hell do I get a fresh course to start here?
  What I did was,lift the shingles, and stuff the shingle up under the bottom of the blanket of roof shingle.  Continued laying the following courses, then as I finished up at the top. stuffed the last course up under the remaining shingles as one would do normally.
  Then, I cut another layer of roof felt paper, to cover the courses I just put down.  Started this by shoving the felt paper up under the bottom remaining shingles and over the first course of shingles I just put in. followed by another 2 courses of felt paper overlapping the first one.
  Tomorrow, I cover the opening with the top layers and step flashing to match the rest of the roof, this time however, the last courses will be at the same level as the rest of the roof, and the bathroom vent cover will be done up correctly.  All along doing this I was very mind full about water shedding down, and hopefully this time it'll all work as it's supposed to!
  Hopefully when the rains come again, I'll not have to throw tarps up!

That sucks man, I feel for ya. But, 5 layers? From what I know you're never supposed to do more than 2 layers of shingles before re-roofing your whole house.

I was in that situation a few years back in our old place. And while it sucked re-roofing the whole house, the peace of mind that came from knowing that the whole roof was done right was worth the week of work.

I've got my fingers crossed for you. I know how much a leaky roof sucks, and this year we're headed into another El Nino year, so this winter is going to be a wet one.

yep two layers max. The weight of 5 layers + insect damage = more then ants falling on your head.

I feel your pain. Michelle and I are working on the entire interior of the house which entails tearing out the 30 r old shag carpet which has fused with the plywood subfloor and painting all the rooms.

 All has been great until I encountered a small spot of dry rot in the tongue and groove subfloor going under the front entry door sill.

-Brian G

I can sympathize on the ongoing roof leaks. We put up with that for seven years until last year my wife put her foot down and I had the new materials delivered onto my roof. While pulling the old shingles off I discovered the original roofers didn't bother felting throughout, ran the felt under not over the rain gutters, and didn't run the horizontal flashing up all the way under the eaves. If I hadn't done all the work myself I doubt any hired out roofer would have caught the flashing that wasn't long enough. Roofing is one of the hardest manual labor jobs and I'm glad I'm not a roofer. Good luck with your repairs. jim

I feel your nightmare!!!!

Ouch!!!  It's like opening a can of worms...   Working on several projects right now...

each one keeps presenting new and disturbing problems,

Good News,  they are going down, one at a time.... 

 Good Luck with that roof though,  that's tough stuff....

 

  Well, the next day, (4th) I got up early and continued.  I worked until the sun again hit the spot.  I was able to complete 98% or all the way up to the shingles outside the repair area. When the sun finally arrived I stopped fully intending to complete it later when the sun passes.  while relaxing, I got a phone call NO one wants to get.
  My step mom called me around 2pm and informed me that my dad had passed Tuesday morning some time.
  Well I didn't finish the my roofing project yesterday.  I was wrecked rest of the day.  He was my outdoor Tudor, he taught me archery at 4, gun safety, how to shoot, bow hunting, tracking game, how to pan for gold, the pleasures of camping, everything I love about the outdoors is directly from him.........
  He will be missed.

Wow.  Sorry to hear of your loss.  Good thoughts are going out to you and your family...

So Sorry,

 Take it easy, do something for yourself and yours,

 

Good thoughts are going out to you and your family..

My condolences to you and your family. RIP.  JIM

  Well I managed to complete my roofing patch repair.  Time and rain will tell if I was successfully in sealing the roof back up.