How to apply roofing felt adhesive

TIP: When applying roof felt adhesive make sure to use a thin layer, as a thick covering will not dry properly and could cause severe problems in the future.

As an essential part of any roofing project, learning how to apply roofing felt adhesive is vitally important. The entire point of this is to bond to roofing felt to the roof deck, which in turn seals any potential joints or gaps that are between the felt sheets. Ultimately, applying roofing felt adhesive is a simple but effective process, which requires attention to detail as well as careful preparation to make sure your roof adhesive application is a long-lasting and effective bond.

Equipment

Before you apply felt adhesive to your roofing project, it is very important to keep in mind certain safety precautions. For example working at height, using suitable protective equipment for yourself, and ensuring that the roof surface is stable and secure before starting work on your project. Once these safety measures have been taken care of, the next step is to gather the necessary tools and equipment:

• Roofing felt adhesive
• A stiff brush
• A roller
• A knife
• Measuring tape

Protection

Safety is an important part of any roofing project. Before starting, ensure you have high-quality protective equipment – notably gloves, eye protection and a respirator to protect your lungs from any toxic chemicals.

Height Safety

Most of the time, you will be working from a tall height when applying felt roof adhesive. Before starting your project, ensure you have a sturdy ladder to hand as well as scaffolding to access the roof. Do not work on the roof during windy or wet weather, and never work alone. It’s important to always make sure someone is nearby in the case of an emergency.

Before starting…

Once you have put together the supplies mentioned above, now it is time to start work on the roof itself. First, clean and dry the roofing surface thoroughly. If there is any loose material or debris, these should be cleaned immediately. If you notice any leaks, these should be taken care of too before any work is begun on applying your felt roof.

Materials

When getting started, you need to pay attention to materials. This includes materials like roofing felt, the roofing felt adhesive, nails, etc. Here is a list of materials that are needed:

• Roofing Felt
• Roofing Felt Adhesive
• Nails
• Roofing Cement

Once you have gotten your safety equipment, put together your Roofing Felt Adhesive, and put together your roofing adhesive, now it is time to start the process of applying your roofing felt adhesive. Here are the three steps involved in applying roofing felt adhesive:

Cutting and Positioning Felt

First, properly cut and position the felt. You can do this by measuring the area of the roof you are working on, and then cutting the felt to the appropriate size. With this, it’s important to keep in mind that it is often useful to leave a bit of extra material around the edges to ensure you are covering the complete roof. Remember – you can always add, but you can never take away.

Spreading the Adhesive

Once you have placed the felt correctly, it’s then time to spread the adhesive itself. At Jacob James Roofing, we recommend using a 50mm brush to apply the adhesive, while making sure you are spreading the adhesive evenly across the entirety of the felt. When spreading the roof felt adhesive, keep in mind that the adhesiveness tends to thicken in cold temperatures. Because of this, if possible store the adhesive in a warm room before use to ensure it’s at the right consistency.

Securing the Felt

Once you have finished applying the adhesive, it is time to secure the felt to the roof. Similar to the brush, at Jacob James Roofing we recommend using nails with 50mm gaps to secure the felt in place. Double check that there are no air bubbles in place, and that the adhesive has been evenly distributed across the surface of the roof.

Great! You’ve now successfully applied the adhesive to the surface of the roof. Now it’s time to finish off with two simple steps:

Trimming Excess Material

If you’ve followed our previous step of cutting the felt with plenty of room to spare, you may have some excess felt at the edges of your roof. Now, you need to trim this excess off using a sharp knife or scissors to leave a clean result.

Sealing Edges

Now it’s time to check the roof is fully sealed off and completely waterproofed. You can do this using some type of sealant, or roofing cement. First, apply the sealant or roofing cement to the edges of the felt. When doing this, make sure to use a thin layer as a thick covering will not dry properly and could cause severe problems in the future. This will prevent any water from seeping in through the edges of the roof – making it fully waterproof.

Once you have finished following these steps, you will have successfully applied roofing felt adhesive to your roof!