Goop on the Roof

 The roof penetrations for the plumbing are flashed and sealed.  The process involved:

1. Wire brushing the existing gravel surface of my rolled roofing. 
2. Applying a 3-5 mm layer of the APOC 133 roof sealant. 

 

3. Back buttering the Oatey `Solar' flashings with APOC 133 and sticking them on the roof.
4. Forgetting to pull the sensor wire through the flashing.  (DOH!)
5. Overlapping the flashing and threading them down the plumbing pipes. 

 

6. Covering the flashing with more APOC 133.  

7. Cutting a square of bitumen rool roofing to cover the goo.

8.  Peeling backing off roll roofing and laying it over the good.  

 

9. Rolling and patting down the rool roofing so that it makes a good bubble-free bond with the existing roof. 

I have some thin sheet aluminum that I'm going to use to make `parasols' for the rubber boots on these flashings.  Maybe instead of getting 10 years out of the rubber, I'll get 30.  As a result of forgetting to pull the sensor wire, I'll have to lift the edge of one of the boots and probably use a stiff wire to pull the bell cord sensor wire. woO.

Solar Roof Flashings

Yesterday I fitted up the flashings that I'll be using for the 3/4" supply pipes that go to and from the collectors.  As the pipes are quite close, the top flashing required some trimming with my yellow handled Wiss snips.  The cutout I made allowed for flush layup of the flashings.  My friend Ron at GRID Alternatives recommends that I seal these flashings with APOC 133 caulk as it's usually what they use on this type of roofing (aggregate on bitumen), over which I'll adhere a layer of bitumen.  Tomorrow I'll be going to Western Gravel and Roofing Supply to get tubes of this stuff.  Ron has agreed to come over to help racking the panels on August 26th.  There's some small chance that I'll make time to finish this project myself, but I'll probably wait for Ron as I haven't enough experience in racking panels, flashing, and finding roof joists under built up roof membranes.  More soon!