My wood shed is leaking badly

[ironspider]

I'm not much of a handy man, but i did tear down a shed from someones property (legally) and put it up as my wood shed, it's about 10x10 but it's a total rig job, nothing fit together properly so I think it was two sheds mashed together at some point. I have it on blocks because we flood (BTW

So I get it all together and it's leaking very bad, to the point where all my wood is wet. Yes, i put shingles on the roof. I can only guess that the back part of the shed doesn't slope down enough or maybe not at all.

What do i need to do to shore this up, what can i use to cover the roof without throwing a blue tarp over it.

Any ideas? It's not leaking in the front, just the peak and the back. Wifey is not letting me spend any more money, so minimal costs is essential.

 

[Jags]

Spidey - Have you ever shingled before? It is very difficult to tell from the pic, but it doesn't look like the shingles were laid properly.

ETA - with the very minimal slope that you have, you may very well be better off with roll roofing (kinda like shingle, just in a big role) with a heavy overlap - maybe even seal the overlap with tar. The stuff is pretty cheap.

Hopefully @Hogwildz will show up. He is one of the onboard pros for roofing.

 

[Snotrocket]

I can tell just from that picture your shingles are all jacked up.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Or a rubber roof.

 

[ironspider]

LOL, The only shingling i've ever done was removing the old ones from the house behind the shed, I never installed shingles but it looked easy. Simply lay them on top of each other......I guess not

I searched "roll roofing" on home depot and didn't see anything. Can you be more specific, oh, i didn't use underlayment either.

 

[Jags]

Something like this:
http://www.lowes.com/Building-Supplies/Roofing-Gutters/Roll-Roofing/_/N-1z11pr8/pl#!

 

[fossil]

I'm talking about tar paper. And if there's no underlayment, what are the shingles nailed to?

 

[fossil]

Here ya go:

https://www.google.com/#q=how+to+install+shingle+roofing&revid=1490976025

 

[Snotrocket]

You don't need the tar paper or the underlayment. Just shingle it properly. You could make it water tight with some synthetic underlayment but it will look like hell. You would also need to buy a whole roll which would cover a 1000sq ft house.

 

[ironspider]

I'm talking about tar paper. And if there's no underlayment, what are the shingles nailed to?

nailed to the plywood.

 

[fossil]

nailed to the plywood.

Sorry, that's what I'm referring to as underlayment. Plywood, paper, shingles. That's a typical asphalt shingle roof.

Here's one:

 

[ironspider]

Something like this:
http://www.lowes.com/Building-Supplies/Roofing-Gutters/Roll-Roofing/_/N-1z11pr8/pl#!

So based on the link, I'd probably need two or three rolls. What about the seams where they overlap?

 

[ironspider]

Sorry, that's what I'm referring to as underlayment. Plywood, paper, shingles. That's a typical asphalt shingle roof.

Here's one:
View attachment 120029

I need everything in that picture....

 

[Jags]

So based on the link, I'd probably need two or three rolls. What about the seams where they overlap?

I would overlap them heavily. Like several inches sealed with tar. Those particular rolls are 3ft x 36 ft. I have no idea the size of your roof, but it should be very easy to calculate. Keep in mind - this is just one idea. There are several solutions for your problem.

 

[ironspider]

I would overlap them heavily. Like several inches sealed with tar. Those particular rolls are 3ft x 36 ft. I have no idea the size of your roof, but it should be very easy to calculate. Keep in mind - this is just one idea. There are several solutions for your problem.

I'm looking for the cheapest easiest way to keep the water out. I need to save up for a splitter.

 

[Jags]

I'm looking for the cheapest easiest way to keep the water out. I need to save up for a splitter.

When it comes to roofing, that is about as cheap of a product that I know of.

 

[tigeroak]

From looking at your shed, you do not have enough pitch in your roof for shingles. What you need to do is go to home depot or a lumber yard and get you some roll roofing and put that down. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Yes that may be a little like tell a kid on how to do it. BUT I can tell you people have started at the top and came down, with rolled and shingles. Then wanted to know why their roofed leaked. And yes I roofed for over 20 years. Roll roofing use to come in rolls of 100 square feet in a roll. So measure your roof and get what rolls you need , a few tubes of tar and a couple pounds of roof nails.

 

[UncleJoe]

Have you considered metal roofing? Around here it goes for $2.20/ft. That's a 3' wide panel. You can occasionally find some on Craigslist even cheaper.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You need a 4/12 pitch for shingles. I got away with 3/12, but it's pushing it. I think the roll on roofing or even metal roofing is the answer. For the meantime, you mentioned an aversion to blue tarps. Have you seen the black tarps?

Come to think of it, a single piece of EPDM might be a good fit for this roof. Drape it over the edges and secure it to the walls. The only hard and fast rule with roofs is that they must shed water. A single piece of EPDM wouldn't have any holes so it should shed water real easy.

 

[ironspider]

A friend of mine said he has a roll of roof roll.

Do i remove the shingles, lay the roof roll and nail the shingles back on?

 

[Jags]

Do not nail the shingles to the roll roofing. Either leave the shingles if in good condition and laying flat, or remove them and then lay down the roll roofing.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Can the shed support 2 layers of roof plus 2 feet of snow? I'd hate to go through all that work only to have it collapse under a good snowfall.

 

[gzecc]

I'm not much of a handy man, but i did tear down a shed from someones property (legally) and put it up as my wood shed, it's about 10x10 but it's a total rig job, nothing fit together properly so I think it was two sheds mashed together at some point. I have it on blocks because we flood (BTW

So I get it all together and it's leaking very bad, to the point where all my wood is wet. Yes, i put shingles on the roof. I can only guess that the back part of the shed doesn't slope down enough or maybe not at all.

What do i need to do to shore this up, what can i use to cover the roof without throwing a blue tarp over it.

Any ideas? It's not leaking in the front, just the peak and the back. Wifey is not letting me spend any more money, so minimal costs is essential.

Constantly amazes me how people build something wrong then expect an easy solution to the problem caused by the poor design or material used. Yes, I'm a contractor and see it all the time.

 

[ironspider]

I don't trust the roof. I don't very much trust the shed. Whomever built this really did a shabby job, I shored it up a little, but there is nothing i trust about this shed. will roll roofing and say cauking the seams be enough? I need this done by friday, I have a load of season wood coming and all of my racks are full of next years unseasoned wood.

 

[ironspider]

Constantly amazes me how people build something wrong then expect an easy solution to the problem caused by the poor design or material used. Yes, I'm a contractor and see it all the time.

When i agreed to take this shed I had no clue it was poorly put together. I don't know too much about construction so i figured I'll simply take the walls off, the roof off and just put them back on. Upon trying to rebuild is when i realized so many shims and mismatched wood, and nothing fitting properly. It became obvious only when trying to put it back together.

Yes, I probably should have just spend money on a good new shed or had it built properly, but I don't have the money which is why I'm trying to heat more with wood rather than oil. So yes, I'm now asking you to help me with an easy solution, of which there may not be. However, any bit of help greatly appreciated.