My roof leaks and I can't afford to reroof it at this point.

I have acquired two large pieces of 40x50' HD greenhouse plastic to cover it.

Yesterday I was passing a road project and they had a large mound of sand covered with sheet plastic, with half-filled sandbags acting as weights to hold the plastic down.

Do you think I could use this technique for my roof, rather than nailing down strips of wood as I had originally planned? I was thinking of putting a bag every four feet or so, and nailing 1x2s along the edges. This is a double-wide mobile home with fairly shallow pitch.

Any opinion would be very welcome.

Sue

I guess it cannot hurt to try.

Around here folks get one of a number of semi-liquid products that pour out, seep into any leaks, cover the roof, and harden in place to form a thick barrier.

I just got some roll-out asphalt roofing for my wood shed. $45 and it covers 200sqft. Maybe some of those you could re-roof cheap?

I`m not sure what your roof is made of currently... aluminum?

How is it leaking 1 spot or all over?

They have some awesome roof-goop to patch holes, add some aluminum or galvanized steel and you can patch holes 1ft or bigger.

I suppose you could, but why not just tack the plastic down with a staple gun or something?

I think if you could tell how bad the leaks were you'd get a much better answer. If it's just some wood drying and little cracks, I'd think even some silicone caulk in the rafters would do for now.

Ok, I'll hang my stupid out. What kind of roof are we talking about? Steel exterior over lumber construction?

Sue,

Go to an RV Store and get some roof patch cement if you can. Caulk the holes with that, and then go over with the plastic. Yes the sand bags will work. More wind = more sand bags..

I have done this on the same kind of structure you live in.

PM me if you have more questions

EDIT: Where is it leaking, and how many places?

If you have roofing shingles, sometimes the nails holding them to the roof can pop up, and create a small leak. If there are yellow spots on your ceiling, you can approx where the leak is on the roof. But sometimes the water can run down a joist or other item and wind up pretty far away from the actual leak. Have a friend, neighbor, relative, spouse go up and look, if poss. A popped nail is pretty easy to spot, just look for a small rise in the roofing material. Use the roofing "mud" that comes in a caulking tube at a temp. patch. In Ft. Lauderdale, we were able to go directly over the existing roofing material, but that could be done only once. Got the permit, and my brother in law, who used to have his own roofing company helped me. Did in in February, and it only cost me $400 for the material and food for the crew. Not bad.
Check with your local zoning office and ask. It's definitel;y worth it.
If you don't have roofing shingles....never mind.

They also make a thin roofing tar that can be rolled on with a paint roller, my uncle painted a metal roof on an old house with it.

I saw some folks in my area cover a mobile home with a whole new roof structure.
I guess that the original roof was beyond repair, so they framed out a new wood structure directly on top of the old roof [with no demo to the original roof], and finished it off with metal roofing.

I'm apologize for going off topic... as I know that solution is not a cheap or temporary fix.
I just thought that was a great idea; and I bet the home is now a lot cooler in the Summer too.
Maybe that could be a consideration when you're ready for a more permanenet fix.

It's a 30-yr-old mobile home with two layers of asphalt shingles on it. Other than a little moss, it LOOKS okay: no missing shingles, no raised nail heads, no curling shingles, no gaps around the vents. But I can feel weak places in the roof (plywood, I assume) when I walk on it. I can spot no particular places where water is going in, and there are leak spot on the ceiling of five rooms (scattered). The actual roof is 2,045 sqft.

The asphalt patching stuff, rolled on the whole roof = $1,792.

Snow Roof (needs 2 coats) $2,960. For asphalt shingles they also recommend using their primer, which is extra.

Metal roofing directly from a local producer as a 'kit', and doing it myself = $1,700.

None of this is possible. So, back to the original question: would the sandbags hold the plastic down as well as strips of wood in regards to wind?

(Stapling plastic directly without wood just doesn't work because it pulls loose in a breeze.)

Sue

45$ for 200sqft of roll out asphalt roof.
x10 = $450

Is that more within the budget?

That's at home depot w/out bulk discount...

You'd of coarse have to discard the other shingles which may cost $$ too.

Sounds like it may (Stress MAY) be leaking at the joint in the middle and letting the water migrate within the roof structure to cause wet spots elsewhere.

Try the roll roofing if you can. That will be the best long term temporary fix. If not, tarp/plastic and sand bags will be ok. Just watch how much weight and how it is distributed.

Susan is the roof really leaking? If you have not had this place for years is it possible that the roof leaked at one time, roof over was done and the ceiling painted without proper primers. And now the stains are bleeding through the paint. Not trying to say that your roof isn't leaking. But i have seen people mistake a stain bleeding through paint as a current leak.

Have not tried to use sandbags to hold down plastic sheeting on a roof but i don't see why it would not work. If i was going to try it i think that i would still put wood around the edges and put the sandbags down on the wood so that the whole length of the edge is held down which will make it harder for the wind to get under the edge of the plastic. Not positive that it will work but i would try it.

Ray, I've been here 11 years. All the spots were wet (hoping against hope).

I guess I'll give it a try and see what happens. If we get a high wind and it doesn't work, I wonder how far a 40x50' sheet of plastic will fly.....?

Thanks for the responses!

Sue

Susan,

Are you sure your roof is subroofed with plywood. In the time frame your home was build, some manufacters used chip board and particle board to cut costs. Once wet, these products were no longer structurely sound and may very likey harbor mold. In addition, once wet, shingle fasteners especially staples no longer held even if the subroof subsequently dried.

I am not trying to scare you but if chip or particle board was used and got wet, those products should be replaced. They are no longer safe to walk on or hold your roof trusses together. Current building codes no longer allow these products to be used in new roofs.

One option is to use a reflective roof material. The current tax code allows an energy tax deduction for qualifing reflective roofing materials.

wood strips to hold the outer seams. over lap the tarps, so the top foot is with the wind. stagger your sandbags. 6' 8' 10' down. you can create saddlebags. Great for wind. tie two sandbags together with baling twine/whatever you have and hang off opposing sides of the pitch.

here is a picture of a levee that shows the saddlebags.

http://www.sjgov.org/oes/disasters/photo...lood%20prep.jpg

Sandbags should work if you use enough and no holes will be introduced into roof by nailing wooden battens but water may puddle around sandbags if they are not arranged so that the rain can drain off.