How to temporarily protect a flat roof until a permanent fix can be made

leakroof

I recently discovered there's a corner of my flat roof that was poorly installed and has lead to a leak and some rotting. So far there are no signs of interior damage but it will likely be several weeks to a couple months until I can get a proper repair done.

Any thoughts on the best way to temporarily cover the problem area in a way that can be easily removed later?

I've considered getting some plastic sheeting and taping it to the vinyl siding, but I'm not sure what tape I could use that will stick and also not be a pain to get off.

problem area
general area view

Best Answer

You'll need some plastic sheeting (reinforced, ideally, as in a medium-weight tarp or mesh-embedded poly), and you'll need some lumber. 1x4s and 2x4s in eight- to twelve-foot lengths would be good. Even better if they roughly match the width of your sheeting roll or tarp.

  1. Roll out a length of sheeting that's as long as the slope of your roof plus 6 feet.

  2. At one end, roll a board into the sheeting for three wraps. Keep it neat and tight.

  3. Lay another board over the wraps and screw it to the wrapped board, sandwiching the sheeting.

  4. Do the same at the other end. The result should be leave you with the roof dimension plus about 16" between the wrapped boards.

  5. Drape this assembly over the roof, with the lumber hanging off the high and low edges of the roof. It should be completely flat so as to not catch water anywhere. The dropped ends shouldn't be so long as to sway in the wind and cause damage or lift. Shorten the assembly if needed.

  6. If needed, repeat this process and install additional runs with a 2-3 foot lap on the side.

  7. Lay lumber down the edges of the runs, stapling from below to keep it from sliding off the roof. It's critical to keep the wind from lifting the edges. If that happens the whole thing becomes a parachute.

             <-- slope direction -->
      ___________________________________________ <---- lumber on edges 
   __|___________________________________________|__    (stapled to sheet)
 _|  ---------------------------------------------  |_
| | |                       ^-- roof              | | |
|_| |<-- fascia or wall                           | |_| <-- wrapped lumber
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