Splicing the Felt: Learn How to Join Felting Paper while Working On to a Shed
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Unless you´re roofing a garage or shed, you´ll run out of felt paper eventually. When this occurs, don´t nail the very edge of the felt. Instead, get your next roll out and lay it over top of the existing end. Give it about a 16" over lap. Vertical seams like this need to be wider because water could get in at the top and get under the overlapping paper. You want to give it plenty of protection so that it can reach the bottom edge and flow onto the next course.
Place a button on the lower corner. You should be going through three pieces of felt. It´s a good idea not to completely sink the caps when you´re using them to hold the paper for straightening. Stretch out the course, cut the end, pull it tight and then sink the nail. Continue nailing off in the same manner; 5 pattern, bottom edge. Repeat everything until you get to the ridge (the peak of the roof). You can always tell an experienced roofer from the ´tap whack´ sound of the hammer. You hold the button and tap it with the hammer to ´set´ it, then with one whack, you sink it.
Tear - If you tear the paper, you can repair it by cutting a piece of felt that is considerably larger than the tear. Use 100% silicon around the border of the ´patch´ piece and fill the tear with silicon too. Don´t use so much that it causes a bulge, but make sure it´s completely covered. Nail around the perimeter making sure that you created a sealed ´gasket´ with the silicon and that there are not gaps.
Hole - Holes can happen from various things. If they are very small (nail hole size) and just in the felt, place a button cap in the hole. If the hole is larger than the diameter of the nail, treat it the same way that you would treat a tear.
The thing to remember with any repair is, be sure it will shed water. If the tear is in the top of a course, use a large piece and slide it under the next course. This creates a lap that will shed water. If the tear is at the bottom of the course, slide the patch piece underneath it several inches past the tear and make it large enough that it extends past the bottom edge. This will shed water onto the course below. If the tear is in the middle of the course, use enough silicon and a large enough piece that you are sure no water can enter the tear. Next up, Hip Roofs.
Place a button on the lower corner. You should be going through three pieces of felt. It´s a good idea not to completely sink the caps when you´re using them to hold the paper for straightening. Stretch out the course, cut the end, pull it tight and then sink the nail. Continue nailing off in the same manner; 5 pattern, bottom edge. Repeat everything until you get to the ridge (the peak of the roof). You can always tell an experienced roofer from the ´tap whack´ sound of the hammer. You hold the button and tap it with the hammer to ´set´ it, then with one whack, you sink it.
Fixing ´Accidents´
Accidents will happen. Here´s a few common problems and how to fix them.Tear - If you tear the paper, you can repair it by cutting a piece of felt that is considerably larger than the tear. Use 100% silicon around the border of the ´patch´ piece and fill the tear with silicon too. Don´t use so much that it causes a bulge, but make sure it´s completely covered. Nail around the perimeter making sure that you created a sealed ´gasket´ with the silicon and that there are not gaps.
Hole - Holes can happen from various things. If they are very small (nail hole size) and just in the felt, place a button cap in the hole. If the hole is larger than the diameter of the nail, treat it the same way that you would treat a tear.
The thing to remember with any repair is, be sure it will shed water. If the tear is in the top of a course, use a large piece and slide it under the next course. This creates a lap that will shed water. If the tear is at the bottom of the course, slide the patch piece underneath it several inches past the tear and make it large enough that it extends past the bottom edge. This will shed water onto the course below. If the tear is in the middle of the course, use enough silicon and a large enough piece that you are sure no water can enter the tear. Next up, Hip Roofs.
