Regardless of how well the installation of the roof was completed, over the years, under the influence of external factors, it becomes unusable and needs repair.
Types of soft roof
Different types of soft roofs have a number of advantages, which are decisive when choosing a material. In particular, the advantage is the low price, excellent performance, as well as ease of installation. To date, several types of soft roofs are known, which differ in the way of laying:
- Surfaced roof can have a fiberglass or non-rotting synthetic surface. Here you can highlight fiberglass, fiberglass and polyester as a coating.
- Membrane soft roofing is quite simple to repair.
- Soft tile.
To maintain the operational capabilities of any type of soft roof, repairs should be carried out at the desired frequency of three years. This need is associated with the characteristics of the material, as well as the influence of external factors, such as temperature changes, sunlight and humidity. All this often leads to the fact that the bitumen base is stratified or cracked. In addition, too heavy rainfall can wash away the protective layer, and severe frosts make the material too fragile.
The main defects of the soft roof
Regardless of which material was used to cover the roof, the defects are often similar. The most common are:
- During the period when snow melts or heavy rains are observed, the roof can leak. This problem is associated with tears of adhesive mastic or its softening.
- The roof covering can be inflated with both air and moisture.
- Cracks in the protective layer.
- Creasing, material sliding, peeling of the coating at the place where the roof is adjacent to a vertical surface.
- Freezing of the ceiling of the upper floor or its humidity.
If the soft roof is damaged, repairs can be carried out without the help of specialists. The main thing is to strictly follow the instructions.
Repair of a soft roof is completely dependent on its condition. First of all, it is necessary to identify leaky places. If the soft roof is damaged, the repair is aimed at giving the coating its original appearance. For this, as a rule, the following events are held:
- coating replacement;
- renewal of heat and waterproofing layers;
- alignment of specific places that have undergone deformation (in this case, rolled materials are used);
- installation of fillets that serve to smooth corners (fillet is a side that is located between the base of the roofing material and its adjoining to a vertical surface);
- restoration or replacement of a drain.
The main stages of work
The technology of the work depends on what type of installation will be carried out: current or capital. If the soft roof is damaged, its repair will include a preparatory stage, which is identical in both cases, since it involves the preparation of the roof surface. First of all, it needs to be carefully examined, with particular attention to the drainage system. The presence of debris or ice in this case can lead to damage to the soft roof. If you need to inspect the pitched roof, then you need to remember to do it from the attic to assess the rafter system.
Ruberoid is most susceptible to damage, since the bitumen base of this material does not tolerate the influence of ultraviolet rays and temperature changes. In addition, it is the roofing material that most often lends itself to the process of decay. As a rule, it can be found in garages and other outbuildings.
During the inspection of a flat or pitched roof, you need to pay attention to the following points:
- the presence of delamination or swelling;
- the presence of cracks, scuffs or tears;
- depressurization of joints;
- the presence of various sizes of recesses that can accumulate moisture in themselves.
For high-quality work, you must follow the basic rules. First of all, you need to take into account climatic conditions and carry out all actions strictly in sunny weather, and the air temperature should be above 10 degrees. Before repairs, the roof should be thoroughly cleaned of debris, for example, various branches, leaves and other rubbish that is brought in with the wind, as well as mold.
Local repair
Maintenance repair of the soft roof is carried out if the damage is insignificant in area. All work must be carried out in the following order:
- The problem area should be cut in the form of a cross, dividing it into 4 parts, each of which needs to be bent and pressed. In the case when the damage is not only superficial, but also affected the lower layers of the coating, it is necessary to cut down the repaired area with an ax.
- Next, thoroughly clean and dry the problem area. For this, a building hair dryer or an ordinary gas burner is ideal.
- Now you can start preparing the patch, which plays a piece of roofing material of a similar size.
- The site needs to be treated with mastic; as an alternative, molten resin can be used. Do this quite carefully so that there are no dry places.
- Next, lay the prepared patch and press firmly, and again apply a layer of the used mastic on top.
- The bent petals are returned to their original position and again we apply a layer of mastic. On top we place another patch of several large sizes, which we also coat with an adhesive.
Overhaul
Overhaul of the soft roof is necessary if the damage is significant in area. Here you can distinguish two subspecies of repair: with the laying of roofing material and using bikrost. The latter material has several advantages, which allows it to gain popularity with users quickly enough. In particular, bicrost does not require the use of bitumen mastic or tar, which makes its installation quite simple and quick.
Overhaul using roofing material
Often this material is used when it is necessary to repair a soft roof of a garage. To do this, remove all coating that has become unusable. A new roofing material must be prepared before use, namely, rolled out and left for a day, which will allow it to straighten. It is necessary to lay the tapes across the roof slope, while moving better from the bottom up.
As an adhesive, tar is usually used. The edges of the tape should be coated with bitumen mastic or molten bitumen. The roofing material must be lapped at 10-15 cm. After all work, the surface should dry. In most cases, 12 hours is enough for this. All subsequent layers must be laid so that the joints of each of them do not coincide. When laying roofing material, make sure that no swelling forms under the surface.
Soft roof. Bikrost Repair
This material is good in that it allows you to significantly save on mastic, tar and time resources. For installation you will need a gas burner.
The roof must be thoroughly cleaned and covered with a primer. After this, roll the bikrost to 0.5 m and warm from the inside. After a while, when this piece of material sticks, you need to roll out a similar fragment and repeat the action. When using bicrost, the overlap should be about 7-8 cm. Two layers are enough for a high-quality coating.
Using new technologies
Recently, the use of new alternatives to roofing material and bicrost has become popular. These materials include liquid rubber. It has excellent waterproofing properties and is used on roofs with a large area and the number of junctions. Liquid rubber can be applied both cold and hot. In addition, the material is absolutely safe for the master, unlike other roofing soft elements.
Repair of a soft roof can be safely carried out independently. In this case, it is enough to adhere to the basic rules and reduce the number of walks on a new roof layer to a minimum.