DoItYourself.com Community Forums > Exterior Improvement Center > Roofing, Gutters and All Waterproofing Anywhere

Roof falling

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

07-19-02, 10:06 PM

bigfoot84

Visiting Guest

Posts: n/a

Roof falling

Thanks for any suggestions!

I just purchased a one family, one story house. As soon as we got into the house, we started taking off some old paneling from the walls. Then we noticed on one side of the house, there is a gap of about five inches from the bedroom walls and the exterior walls!! It's like the outside wall is being pushed out, not happy that the inspection company didn't spot this but............

Then while up in the attic, I noticed at the very peak of the roof, same side of the house with the wall problem, the roof seems like it's sliding down and I guess this is pushing the wall out.

My question is, what would cause this, how can it be remedied and what can I do for the time being, to keep my house from falling down!!!

Upvote

07-20-02, 11:34 AM

Mike Swearingen

Banned. Rule And/Or Policy Violation

Join Date: Dec 1999

Location: Northeastern NC On The Albemarle Sound

Posts: 10,701

Upvotes: 0

Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post

Get a contractor in to inspect the problem.
You may be able to pull the wall back in with cables and come-alongs, and stabilize the framing permanently.
Good luck!
Mike

Upvote

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Show Printable Version

Email this Page

Roofing, Gutters and All Waterproofing Anywhere
My half-baked idea to cool my roof

D

DiezPulgares on Jul 09, 2002

I own a one-story rambler in Maryland, where it is 98F today and has been near that for a couple weeks. Given that we are setting temperature records here annually (like virtually everywhere else in the country), I am trying to do what I can to (a) cheaply keep my house cool in the face of a changing climate and (b) reduce my part of the fossil fuel usage which is contributing to the problem in the first place. In the 18 months I've lived in the home, I've noticed that while one end of the house (shaded by tall firs and with a ventilated attic) stays pleasantly cool even on days like today without the A/C on, the other end (unshaded, with a low-sloping, black EPDM roof) is a veritable sauna. If you close the door between the two areas, the temperature differential is pretty impressive. Since the area with the flat(-ish) roof seems to have little room for insulation between the ceiling and the roof on top, my focus has been on finding a way to stop the sun from pounding the black surface, which in turn heats the interior. I spent some time researching these elastomeric roof coatings, but in the end learned that for EPDM it would have to be a 3-stage process (cleaning solution, then primer and final white coat), and I'd need to buy or rent a special sprayer (heavy-duty enough to handle the viscous material, I guess). Given the cost ($200 plus the sprayer), the effort, the fact that I'd need to luck into a weekend (and soon, please) with a dry and mild two-day forecast so the roof wouldn't be 120F+ (bit of a Catch-22), and the mixed message I've gotten from local roofing supply places about which product(s) will actually adhere well to my roof, I've... well you get the picture. What started out as a no-brainer ("paint the darn thing white", she said) has become convoluted to the point where I want to drop back and punt. Which brings me to Plan B. It's also occured to me that, while summer A/C costs predominate over winter heating costs, there is still some benefit to having a black roof in the colder months (assuming we ever have another winter here). So... what about a "convertible"? White in the summer, black the rest of the time. So far I've come up with two methods for bringing this about: 1) Rolling waterproof (but breathable) white TyVek Home Wrap onto the roof for the summer months, then roll it back up and store it away in September. One concern is that the manufacturer only recommends it be exposed to the elements for 90 days. Not sure what that means - maybe it loses its water repellancy over time. 2) This one is the current frontrunner. For about $90 I can cover the entire 550 sf expanse with bats of 1" styrofoam insulation. It has roughly the reflectivity of snow (.8), and the insulating value (while most sane people put the material on the *inside* of the roof) ought to be a bonus. The obvious questions, for both options, are: - how to secure the material to the roof to withstand wind, rain, and everything else mail carriers deal with. I'm thinking light-colored bricks at the moment. - do I need to worry about mold, fungus, etc growing under the material and harming the synthetic rubber, even if it's up there just 4 months of the year? - how well would the material hold up over time, and would it withstand spray-washing with a garden hose to keep it white? I'm sure there are others I haven't thought of. The roof is about 8 feet off the ground, so easy access is not an issue. The slope is about 1-to-12. Only one of the neighbors would have to look at what I put on the roof, and they seem like easygoing folks. My girlfriend has promised not to leave me, based on this one deed alone at least. Thoughts, suggestions? Recommendations for a shrink? Please do me a favor and nip this idea in the bud if it's truly and unredeemingly nuts.Read More
Roofing, Gutters and All Waterproofing Anywhere
Roof Ventilation

M

Mio on Jul 18, 2002

Recently purchased a Georgian style house and I want to increase the attic ventilation. Now I have been reading that the best ventilation system is the ridge vent / soffit vent system. But on this style of house there are no soffits. The question I have is what kind of venting systems would be recommended on this style roof. Any suggestions you have would be greatly welcome. ThanksRead More

Ask a Question