Roof Restoration - Tar Baby

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middlecalf

middlecalf

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Well I finally decided to tackle my roof. It was leaking some (from top), and was also pretty ugly but in pretty good shape otherwise. The PO had coated it with something, and it wasn't until I started sanding the "something" that I realized it was roofing sealant, like the stuff you get at Home Depot in the 5 gallon bucket (Henry's). So a little more involved than I thought. My plan was to start sanding and see what I get to, then decide if I could restore the fiberglass sufficiently or recoat with something else. There are some damaged spots that will take some fiberglass topcoat repair, nothing too drastic. But after getting to almost "white" I don't think I'll be able to get this looking good with a new gelcoat app, so I've ordered this stuff (Insulating roof paint for buses, recreational vehicles) plus the flexi-clear topcoat (Clear water proofing sealer Elastomeric), hopefully it works better than the Henry's Tar (baby). But I'll see with a little more sanding if I want to pursue a new gelcoat app (plus paint of course). What say you?

Here are some before pics. In progress pics to follow.
Roof Before.webp
Roof Before III.webp
Gutter Before.webp
 
Some progress...

So here's a few pics of some progress. That tar crap is, well crap (ok, good for house roofs, bad for car roofs). But I suppose if one doesn't want to repair the fiberglass properly, this stuff might be ok. Lots of apps of mineral spirits (to both soften the tar plus kind of harden it when it dries so I could scrap and sand). Trick was using a really good scraper, which I got from a professional painter. I'm getting down to white, not sure how much more to sand as I don't want to remove too much good stuff. We'll see.

I kind of like the damage and crack patterns, reminds me of the indian carvings in the Canyon Lands in Utah.
Sanding the Roof.webp
Damage I.webp
Down to White Almost II.webp
 
Thats nasty! I dont know squat so the following is worth just that. I would try a heat gun (carefully) and a putty knife. You also might try some laquer thinner and a putty knife. That top is too classic to not be restored. Good luck.
 
I struggled with my top too. I used a small chisel and a lot of elbow grease. I don't think there is any way to do this job quickly. My top looks great now and it was worth all the sanding and scraping. Keep at it!
 
yikes, the infamous PO strikes again. post up some pics when your done so we all can drool over the shiny new top :popcorn:
 
2nd day progress...

Made some progress, mostly to white/gray now. I think the white is the old paint and the gray is the fiberglass resin, but maybe I've got it backwards, kind of hard to tell. Gutters will be the big PITA.

I'm still leaning toward patching the bad spots in the fiberglass and going with the buskote.

Slow Poke - what did you do with your roof after you removed the gunk?
2nd day progress II.webp
 
I sanded mine down as well, it was in rough shape. I knew I was going to spray bed liner over it, but after I sanded it I mixed fiberglass resin and coated the top several times and laid fiberglass mesh over the damaged areas. All in all it came out nice and easily could have been painted and looked good. You're on the right track, don't give up!
 
Fast Eddy said:
Straight vodka, or 'shine? :cheers:
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Ah, another WSU grad, I see:cheers: Actually my daughter is the WSU grad, I went to a school that didn't have any "professional" sports, just a bunch of geeky male engineers and one very tired female:ban:.

Just water, really, it's a hundred billion degrees in the sun, which helped with softening the tar ("natural" heat gun, skidplate - a good suggestion, wished I thought of it before I got below the really nasty heavy stuff). I finally got smart and dug out the old sun umbrella - DUH:princess:
 
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What did you guys use to prime the sanded fiberglass before topcoating/painting?
 
I shot mine with sandable primer from auto paint store, it was what they recommended.
 
You might try soaking the "tar" with WD40. I've had some experience with roofing tar getting on my tools, boots, hands, etc. Just yesterday in fact. WD40 dissolves it better than anything else I've tried. This of coarse works fastest on fresh tar, but I did restore my favorite putty knife which was encased with tar for more than a year. Give it a shot in those gutters, let it soak in for awhile and it should soften enough to chisel out with an old screwdriver. Let us know how it works.

Oh, and it's great for removing spray paint from your hands also!


:cheers:
 
Go Cougs!
 
048642 said:
I used West System 105 Resin (part 1) and West System 207 "special clear" Hardener (part 2).
Click to expand...
From your other thread you brushed this on, how long is the working time for this? Did you top coat anything over this?
 
The working pot life is about 12-15 minutes; I was able to brush on about half the roof in that time. I then prepared a new batch and continued the roof. It's a HJ45 Troopy roof so it's about twice the size of the FJ40 roof.

This is the gel coat (top coat) for the roof; it now has a hard shiny surface on it.

We did two coats, roughing up with sand paper between coats.

I think a third coat would have really made it white, but we stopped at two because it was good enough for our needs. I'm not going for show truck.

Just a warning: hypothetically speaking, if you happen to be doing this in the dining room and you stop half way through the pot to have a beer, take a phone call, then wander over to the computer to check the IH8MUD site...and then your wife calls and says she is coming home soon. Don't jump up and think you can cut some corners and pour the last of that now steaming hot pot of resin onto the roof and just spread it out...the nice smooth honey like consistency will have been replaced by clotted sour milk, that does not spread out no matter how hard you try in your moment of panic as you see the car pull up outside. It turns out there is no real graceful recovery from this situation...

On the flip side your wife will probably not notice that you did not do the dishes....and then she allow you to spend the next morning outside sanding away all evidence of your indiscretion from the roof of her truck.

She will likely do the last coat herself as well….all of this is hypothetical….of course.
 
048642 said:
She will likely do the last coat herself as well….all of this is hypothetical….of course.
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Sorry, there's picture evidence of the contrary on your other thread.:doh: I noticed that your hands were very well manicured and I really dig that rock on your wedding finger - she must really love you!:grinpimp: (In the dining room, really? Sheez, I'm relegated to the barn...)

PixelWrangler - WD40 does work, but so does mineral spirits, and it's a lot cheaper and doesn't leave the oily residue.
 
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Day 3 - 1 step forward, several backwards

Well, what did I expect after all that sanding anyhow? Found 22 holes that were filled with putty or something (some hard, some soft, all steampunk), from the pattern must have been some sort of light rack or other redneck setup. And also found a 2 inch diameter hole filled with the same junk. Interesting that the outside was coated with the tar (baby) but it appears as though these holes were finished to an extent with fiberglass/epoxy on the inside. But I got the gutters mostly cleaned, will need to do some epoxy repair in a few places. Started to patch hole(s) with inside patch first, then fill with layers of glass/epoxy, top coat both sides, sand, prime, finish coat, drink beer(s). (maybe in that order)
Day 3 gutter.webp
Day 3 find.webp
Day 3 Inside patch from inside.webp
 
middlecalf said:
PixelWrangler - WD40 does work, but so does mineral spirits, and it's a lot cheaper and doesn't leave the oily residue.
Click to expand...

Good to know! It seems like when I compared mineral spirits and WD40 years ago, WD40 seemed to cut it a bit faster, but I could be wrong. I do prefer it over mineral spirits for cleaning my hands since it's a lot easier on the the skin. :)
 
Day 4 - Making surfboards

Filled the holes (big one has epoxy plus fiberglass), little ones just epoxy. Tops will get feathered into existing structure with epoxy and fiberglass after these have cured a bit. If interested, these tops are made up of some type of hard foam covered with epoxied glass (pic is a piece I cut out of the large hole to get to clean substrate). If I was repairing a much bigger hole I would of used hard foam instead of layers of epoxied glass to avoid a big rigid chunk in the middle of the roof.

I was under the impression that gelcoat required the top to be covered (to keep air out) while it cured to ensure an even curing. At least that was what I was told for small repairs (using thin myler film pressed over the repair patch), not sure how you do that for the complete roof. And gelcoat is a specific kind of epoxy that tolerates UVs as most epoxies will break down after prolonged exposure to UVs (i.e. need to be top coated). But I'm not an expert.
Filled holes.webp
Cut piece II.webp
 
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