Quick question: isn't tarpaper waterproof????

When I first came to be aware of the world - I found that I was living on my grandmother's farm in a tarpaper shack . The family saved money until Dad could afford his own little farm.

I'm pretty sure that the tarpaper wasn't the only thing on the roof, tho', just that there was no siding on the exterior.

Howsomever . . . when I started off on my own on a little piece of acreage, I first built a little barn and only got the tarpaper (30 lb) on the roof for the first Winter. Lots of cold and snow that Winter but the roofing, held down by lathe, shed water fine.

Soooo, I built a cabin the next year and used the same technique. It had a very steep roof and I thought everything should be fine even with another cold, snowy Winter - leaked like a sieve !! Oooops!

Thirty pound roofing felt with vertical cedar lathe may or may not shed water for a few months - that's my experience. A tarp might be a quick solution :|.

Steve

Well did you unroll it?      Sorry just teasing.
Yes basically it is water proof but it needs to be layered right and it WILL seep around staples holes etc.   Also if it is windy it can move water up under the felt  as the edges do not seal like shingles do.    Lastly, there are different weights of felt. The cheaper grades are not a good as the heavy expensive grades.  Perhaps you got a poor batch at has little tar in it....

I do believe it's waterproof. But if it's not held down correctly then I could definitely see it leaking like a sieve.

its water resistant, needs something to cover it to protect it from the elements. Shingles or tin or siding.

it really has to do with the way it's applied.

Also if you are looking for a cheaper way to get roofing, what we did was went to Lowes, and home depot and got all the broken open packages...they will sell those to you for half price just to get rid of them.

It is resistant, but when used with shingles and other roofy things...I just asked my hubby who much to his dislike has been roofing all summer/fall.

you didn't do anything wrong, other than not finishing the job. You have applied the felt in the right manner, but, for it to become water proof you HAVE to apply the shingles.

Felt is very suseptible to leakage because of exposed fasteners. It will rip very easy in high winds, especially 15# felt. You have to use enough lath to hold it down good, which also puts more holes through the felt, which in turn causes more leaks.

It will only deter small amounts of rain from getting through, but if you are having good rain showers, it is going to get wet.

Once the shingles are applied, then it will be sealed. When the shingles are installed, none of your nails are open to the weather, they are covered by the next row of shingles, ensuring it is sealed.

Cover it with a tarp, until you can get the shingles installed. That will be your best option.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but good luck on it!

(by the way, I was a custom home builder for years and have been through roofing before)