Metal roof spot seals

[Midniteoyl]

Everybody gets that pole buildings and their roofs are kind of good for a few decades or so. I have a ~ 25 year old pole building that I went up top with a bag of new longer screws to seal what have come loose etc. and might leak. This seems to happen more on the wind prevailing side. No problem there, but the other 95% of the screws being old have rusty washers, cracking rubber seals and a ring of rust immediately around the screw on the sheet. I'm sure not painting the whole roof, but am thinking it could be good to dab, spray something that will keep the rust at bay and seal the screws. Rustoleum? Any gooder ideas that someone has had luck with would be appreciated. No one on earth will ever see this from the ground.

Have used Ultima by Geocel a lot and it will last another 25yrs.. Simple dab with a brush and it'll flow to fill and level on its own:

https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing/roof-coating/ultima-clear-roof-sealant-1-qt/gc27210/p-1444431319171.htm

Dap has a similar product:

https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing/roof-coating/dap-reg-ultra-clear-roof-sealant-32-oz/18396/p-37325793776843-c-5822.htm?tid=-4099544320005045771&ipos=1

 

[PILOON]

What has worked for me is a Urethane based caulking, (Flextra by brand) but others would work as well.
I once stuck a 5/6 inch patch to cover a hole and years later attempted to remove it.
Impossible, I had to resort to a hammer and chisel.

Urethane based caulking* is very similar to windshield adhesive.

On lose roof screws a dab would do the trick, preferably under the washer.

*also color matching should not be a problem as I recall they have about 20 colors.

 

[tomplum]

I had a few screws that worked loose that I had planted an extra screw near by and siliconed the loose screw head and that has held well for 5 years. But there's another 1000 square feet of roof that is sitting there w/ old fasteners that I could certainly buy a couple bags of new, longer screws for more bite. That doesn't address the 3/4- 1" ring of rust in the paint of the sheet around the washer. And of course when the thing was built, every last screw was put in square where no one could see it.....Hence my dilemma. I'll check out the suggestions so far. Thanks again.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Everybody gets that pole buildings and their roofs are kind of good for a few decades or so. I have a ~ 25 year old pole building that I went up top with a bag of new longer screws to seal what have come loose etc. and might leak. This seems to happen more on the wind prevailing side. No problem there, but the other 95% of the screws being old have rusty washers, cracking rubber seals and a ring of rust immediately around the screw on the sheet. I'm sure not painting the whole roof, but am thinking it could be good to dab, spray something that will keep the rust at bay and seal the screws. Rustoleum? Any gooder ideas that someone has had luck with would be appreciated. No one on earth will ever see this from the ground.

Trying to fix just the screws that you see are leaking is like playing the game of Wac-A-Mole. You will never win. I know... I went through the very same game with my 15 year old metal roof year before last. After attempting to replace or repair leaking screws (and replacing blocks of sheet rock inside the house, caused by leaking screws) I finally replaced every screw on the roof.

The simple answer is to replace every screw with new screws, a little longer than the originals if needed, and with new gaskets. That was a not a major task; less than a day's work with a cordless drill and a handful of batteries. You might think that would be a one-time fix, right? Nope. You'll need to come back after one year and check to be sure none of the screws are loose. Fortunately, once you do the re-check, you'll be fine for the next 15 years, sans a big high wind storm, or some other disaster.

BT-DT

 

[repete]

This is my latest attempt last fall in Western Washington State, need I say more about leaks.... Seemed to make it through the winter where I applied it. Lexel Sealant.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lexel-10-5-fl-oz-Clear-Paintable-Solvent-Caulk/4714985?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-pnt-_-bng-_-PLA_PNT_221_Glue-Adhesives-Caulk-Repair-_-4714985-_-Online-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&msclkid=dfcc7ad62f4a1d397e4a18ea5f5f2d7d&gclid=dfcc7ad62f4a1d397e4a18ea5f5f2d7d&gclsrc=3p.ds

 

[newbury]

I have a similar problem.
Metal roof about 30 years old now. About 6 years ago started getting leaks in one roof. Slope on roof very slight.
Best patching I found was to do it on a hot summer day, sit in a plastic patio chair, carry a bucket of soap & water with sponge. Quickly clean off a bunch of the screw heads, let them dry (why a hot summer day), then with a caulk gun of Henry's latex with the nozzle cut really short put a generous dab of caulk on the screw.
Laborious but seemed to work.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I have a rusty old galv roof that was nailed instead of screwed. This summer I plan to screw down any loose parts, may even pull nails that are very loose, and will paint the whole thing with an elastomeric roof coating followed by a titanium dioxide paint for UV protection.

 

[mapper]

I had that problem with my metal shop building, it was 30+ years and I had been playing wack a mole for years with it. I found that the wood was starting to deteriorate a bit in the screw holes as well. I replaced all of the screws with longer ones and put a generous squirt of 5200 marine silicone in the hole before replacing the screw. On the ones where the new screw would not tighten down (in some cases the originals had missed the stringers, found a lot of crappy work on the building over the years as well) I would seal the hole and put a new scew in near the old location.
So far it has worked well.
At my age that 8/12 metal roof was more than a bit scary to move around on, even with the safety harness that my neighbor loaned me for the job!

 

[ponytug]

I have a rusty old galv roof that was nailed instead of screwed. This summer I plan to screw down any loose parts, may even pull nails that are very loose, and will paint the whole thing with an elastomeric roof coating followed by a titanium dioxide paint for UV protection.

Just a heads up; at our place our roofs have a mix of steel straight nails, steel screw nails, aluminum screw nails, and screws, all with washers, some of which are lead washers. The aluminum screw nails are the pits as the tops have corroded free, but you can't pull them (no head left) so you have to center punch every nail down, and then you can put in a screw around it.

Beats replacing the whole roof though!

All the best,

Peter

 

[tomplum]

The only leakers that I've had were what loosened from the wind. It's more of a protect the sheet and seal the washers kind of thing. Dab with a brush or a quick squirt hopefully.