Leaky Pole Barn Roof Options

[femurphy77]

Our pole barn is around 20 years old and the roof has been leaking since we bought the place 14 years ago. We caulked all the fasteners the first summer we were here and took care of 99% of the leaks but I've still had to reapply caulking every couple of years. Are standing seam, hidden fastener roofs really leakproof compared to expose fastener roofs? Can I just have the whole roof coated? R&R? I'd like to insulate the roof but until I get it watertight, I don't see any sense in having it insulated.

The place that built it recommends replacing it with the same exposed fastener roof so I don't think I'll be using them any time soon. Elastomeric roofing might be a good option but the couple of places I've called about it aren't interested in a 1600 sq ft job

 

[91FXRS]

Roofer I know was telling me if they over torque the screws when installing it they will leak prematurely. Might just be able to replace screws with some new ones that haven't had the rubber washer over tightened.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I’m certainly no expert but from what I’ve been told I’d just go buy a box of new screws and replace (at a minimum) the ones you suspect are leaking.

 

[CHCRandy]

This is why I hate metal roofs with exposed fasteners. You put a new roof on then punch 10,000 future leaks in it....just never made sense to me. So hard to find the screw that leaks. There are coatings you could paint it with, that would most likely solve leaks for a good bit( maybe 10 years) but you will have to do it again someday or risk leak....they are silicone based products. This is the best I have ever used.....https://www.paintsupply.com/product...MI_93m2YvUgwMVoVFHAR3ulQODEAQYAiABEgK1tvD_BwE as you can see it costs $60 a gallon and covers 100 Square feet per gallon. You can use roller to put it on or spray rig, but man, just be careful.......it is VERY SLICK when dried and 2 coats is best.

Standing seam is almost impossible to have leak problems with it. There are litterally no exposed fasteners that can result in leakage. Since you install a panel, clips and screws.....then overlap that edge with the next panel. About the only place you would have screws that could leak would be on the end edges/gable trims.

Another option would be take the existing metal off, install decking and roof it with shingles.

As far as insulation goes....I can hook you up with my spray foam guy. He could give you a price on spray foam directly to plywood or steel. Every inch of closed cell foam gives you about R-7. I am on a job right now where I am turning a 21 x 10 screened porch into living area. We put 3 inches on the concrete slab, 3" on walls and 4" in vaulted ceiling, insulated 9 windows and 2 doors. It was about $2 or so a square feet.

 

[CHCRandy]

Our pole barn is around 20 years old and the roof has been leaking since we bought the place 14 years ago. We caulked all the fasteners the first summer we were here and took care of 99% of the leaks but I've still had to reapply caulking every couple of years. Are standing seam, hidden fastener roofs really leakproof compared to expose fastener roofs? Can I just have the whole roof coated? R&R? I'd like to insulate the roof but until I get it watertight, I don't see any sense in having it insulated.

The place that built it recommends replacing it with the same exposed fastener roof so I don't think I'll be using them any time soon. Elastomeric roofing might be a good option but the couple of places I've called about it aren't interested in a 1600 sq ft job

Is your current fasteners screws or nails? That building may be old enough that they were still using grommets on nails.....them grommets just cannot handle UV over the long haul. They start cracking, shrinking, etc....and so hard to find the bad ones.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Is your current fasteners screws or nails? That building may be old enough that they were still using grommets on nails.....them grommets just cannot handle UV over the long haul. They start cracking, shrinking, etc....and so hard to find the bad ones.

Good point. A friend of mine at work built a barndominum (before they were popular) about 20-25 years ago and he used those roof-grommet nails. He’s all the time talking about having leaks.

 

[jerrob]

#1 rule, all roof penetrations are potential leaks, doesn't matter if they're screws, sanitary vents, roof vent, chimneys ect.

A hidden fastener roof is best. It wasn't in the budget for this build so I did what I thought to be next best. I decked and taped my roof with the Zip Board system, attatched 1X6 purlins to Zip board and then my exposed fastener metal roofing. The fasteners only penetrate the purlins and not the decking.
Time will tell if this was a fool's endeavor, but so far, so good.
Good luck Sir.

 

[rem788]

I had the same problem 2 years ago with the roof on my pole barn/shop. I researched several solutions. Just replacing the screws had limited success, some stated it worked, others stated it did not. Covering with a silicon or pother sealer seemed temporary at best. I decided to have the roof replaced and have been satisfied with the results. No leaks after 2 years.

 

[femurphy77]

Is your current fasteners screws or nails? That building may be old enough that they were still using grommets on nails.....them grommets just cannot handle UV over the long haul. They start cracking, shrinking, etc....and so hard to find the bad ones.

Mostly ring shank nails but there are about 8 panels screwed on where I replaced leaky skylights with sheetmetal. Yes, they're all grommeted and yes a lot were leaking when we bought the place. I've gotten that down to a few stubborn locations that no matter what I've tried, persist in leaking.

 

[femurphy77]

I’m certainly no expert but from what I’ve been told I’d just go buy a box of new screws and replace (at a minimum) the ones you suspect are leaking.

Ring shank nails, they DO NOT come out. I've tried, one guy I talked to said they don't even try to pull them. They just roll in a scaffold and cut them all from underneath with sawzalls.

 

[femurphy77]

I had the same problem 2 years ago with the roof on my pole barn/shop. I researched several solutions. Just replacing the screws had limited success, some stated it worked, others stated it did not. Covering with a silicon or pother sealer seemed temporary at best. I decided to have the roof replaced and have been satisfied with the results. No leaks after 2 years.

That's kind of where I'm at right now but, damn, I hate to replace a leaky roof system with the same system. DC metals is working up a quote for a standing seam roof so we'll see how shocking that is in a day or three.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

That's kind of where I'm at right now but, damn, I hate to replace a leaky roof system with the same system. DC metals is working up a quote for a standing seam roof so we'll see how shocking that is in a day or three.

When it came time to replace the roof on our church they decided to go with a metal roof. We decided to go with ( think it was called) a snap lock metal roof. It has the benefits of standing seam without the extra labor.

 

[femurphy77]

When it came time to replace the roof on our church they decided to go with a metal roof. We decided to go with ( think it was called) a snap lock metal roof. It has the benefits of standing seam without the extra labor.

Hadn't heard of that, I'll have to look into it.

 

[CHCRandy]

Hadn't heard of that, I'll have to look into it.

Snap lock is almost identical to standing seam, good chance DC will bid it using snap lock and call it a standing seam, which it really is. The difference is with a true standing seam, you butt the panels then run a lap lap seamer down the butt, thus rolling the standing part together as one. With snap lock, you don't need the seamer, you install one panel and the butt snaps over the previous panel. The biggest difference is with a snap lock you have to put a screw or 2 at the ridge, or else you risk panels being able to slide down which can create a leak at your ridge cap. As long as snap lock is properly installed, it is same as a rolled standing seam.

There is a company in Bainbridge, In. called Indiana Metal. They don't do installs anymore, but you can send him a drawing of your building and he will give you a price for all snap lock materials. He is very good at metal and even teaches classes for homeowners and even contractors. He has machines where he will custom make your panels to your exact specs, and believe it or not he is cheaper than Menards and better quality of metal.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

There is a company in Bainbridge, In. called Indiana Metal. They don't do installs anymore, but you can send him a drawing of your building and he will give you a price for all snap lock materials. He is very good at metal and even teaches classes for homeowners and even contractors. He has machines where he will custom make your panels to your exact specs, and believe it or not he is cheaper than Menards and better quality of metal.

When they did our church the contractor brought in a roller and a coil of metal and formed each section (kind of a weird roof) as needed.

When we priced out the roof, at that moment steel was cheaper than asphalt.

 

[CHCRandy]

When they did our church the contractor brought in a roller and a coil of metal and formed each section (kind of a weird roof) as needed.

When we priced out the roof, at that moment steel was cheaper than asphalt.

Yeah, I have seen guys roll it off at the job as well. Kind of like a gutter machine, just different dies and rollers. We have even used a siding trim brake to make standing seam roof panels....but we are limited that the brake is 12 feet max long. So therefore we usually just used it with copper sheets, when we were making like a copper top for a bay window. I'll be honest, this brought back bad memories and reminds me why I have not done one of them in 15 years. I hated working with copper. I hate to even think what a sheet of copper costs now days...