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Where does a quonset hut roof commonly leak?

W.O.B.

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Jan 26, 2014
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I will soon be assembling the quonset building that I have purchased and I am trying to prevent as many future issues as possible. I have read a few people state they they have had their roof leak and I wanted to know if the leak was between the overlapping seams or around a bolt?

Thanks for any info,


Bart
 
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gtcs

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From my experience they only leak where there is a bolt or a joint...
:bounce:
 

txvwnut

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If you have all the bolts tight but have a seam that didn’t quite close up you get a leak that travels before you see it. Best suggestion is to get yourself several miles of foam tape to put between the seams where the arches lock together.
 

Bretny

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That kind of hut can mean many different things. Around here thats one of those tarp covered shelters. I dont think your talking about that though.
 

Justind97

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That kind of hut can mean many different things. Around here thats one of those tarp covered shelters. I dont think your talking about that though.

Funny you say that. google search and not one comes up as tarp covered in the first couple hundred photos.


To the OP, Just make sure the seams are overlapping and all the bolts have rubber washers to stop leaks. If you're really ****, you can caulk them afterwards.
 

Milton Shaw

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Jackfre I would add they leak on the curved sections, somewhere on the arc.
 
OP
W

W.O.B.

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sg5054

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Maine
3M brand 5200 caulking is a structural adhesive and will last forever.
If you put 2 pieces of wood together with 5200, try pulling them apart and the wood will fail before the adhesive joint. In the boat biz 5200 is regarded as “forever”....
 
OP
W

W.O.B.

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The 3M product looks impressive. How much work time do you have after it is applied before the surfaces have to mated together?

Also I want to say thank you for the information and suggestions from y'all.
 

nelstomlinson

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Interior Alaska
They can leak at bolts and seams. If a few leaks are going to be show-stoppers for you, reconsider the quonset. I chased leaks for weeks on mine.

Don't use adhesive like 3M 5200. I did, and it was a bad idea. The adhesive locks in any deformities. Use butyl rubber calk. They may tell you calk is optional, but use it.

The bolts come with a hard rubber washer. You need to tighten the bolt until the washer just starts to deform, and no more! Every bolt you over or under tighten will leak. Unfortunately, you will sometimes have to tighten them much tighter than that to draw panels together. Have a bunch of long sacrificial bolts to draw panels together. There will be thousands of bolts, and dozens of leaks.

You will need to assemble the hoops on the ground, then stand them up. They are limp like cooked spaghetti until you have several up and bolted together. Plan to rent a zoom boom to stand up the hoops. Plan to rent a scissor lift to work the under side. Once you have three of the hoops up and bolted together, you can climb on top to work the top.

My 30' by 49' by 16' high quonset had 120 panels in 24 hoops, with about 4,500 bolts and nuts. Every bolt had to be tightened exactly right. I thought it was going to be quicker and easier than frame construction. The second one would probably be no harder than frame, but the first was definitely harder for me than frame would have been.
 
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W.O.B.

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Athens, Texas
First thank you for the detail, it really helps.

After the leaks were stopped did they come back after the building aged?
My main concern is water trapped between the insulation and the interior of the structure. I don't want a corrosion issue between the two surfaces so I am looking for as much prevention as possible.






They can leak at bolts and seams. If a few leaks are going to be show-stoppers for you, reconsider the quonset. I chased leaks for weeks on mine.

Don't use adhesive like 3M 5200. I did, and it was a bad idea. The adhesive locks in any deformities. Use butyl rubber calk. They may tell you calk is optional, but use it.

The bolts come with a hard rubber washer. You need to tighten the bolt until the washer just starts to deform, and no more! Every bolt you over or under tighten will leak. Unfortunately, you will sometimes have to tighten them much tighter than that to draw panels together. Have a bunch of long sacrificial bolts to draw panels together. There will be thousands of bolts, and dozens of leaks.

You will need to assemble the hoops on the ground, then stand them up. They are limp like cooked spaghetti until you have several up and bolted together. Plan to rent a zoom boom to stand up the hoops. Plan to rent a scissor lift to work the under side. Once you have three of the hoops up and bolted together, you can climb on top to work the top.

My 30' by 49' by 16' high quonset had 120 panels in 24 hoops, with about 4,500 bolts and nuts. Every bolt had to be tightened exactly right. I thought it was going to be quicker and easier than frame construction. The second one would probably be no harder than frame, but the first was definitely harder for me than frame would have been.
 

nelstomlinson

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Messages
649
Location
Interior Alaska
First thank you for the detail, it really helps.

After the leaks were stopped did they come back after the building aged?
My main concern is water trapped between the insulation and the interior of the structure. I don't want a corrosion issue between the two surfaces so I am looking for as much prevention as possible.

My building is three years old now. I sprayfoamed the inside, so I don't know if the leaks came back, but I'm sure I'll have trouble eventually if they do.
 
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