Caulk on a metal roof?

[wantacoe]

I have a pole building with a metal roof. There are some nail size holes (no wood under them), I was told to caulk them but am unsure what kind of caulk to use. Would silicone work ok? Thanks

 

[Musicinabottle]

Personally, I hate caulk on roofs. It fails eventually! I'd put blocks of wood or pieces of sheet metal under the holes then run new screws in.

 

[Fastfish]

No silicone on roof repairs in my book. Lexel or another SASHCO product. These are much better for this application...

 

[zak77]

I use Geocel Pro flex to seal the storm collar on both the flue for my woodstove and garage heater and after 4 years on the woodstove flue, no leaks at all. Geocel does make other caulks for different applications but i will tell you that Pro Flex stands up to cold, heat, and UV for a long time. Plus it really sticks to what you're putting it on.

 

[XRlifer]

Personally, I hate caulk on roofs. It fails eventually! I'd put blocks of wood or pieces of sheet metal under the holes then run new screws in.

^^^this! Just a small block of wood and the correct diameter of screw and it seals up fine. Caulking will fail...sooner than later. I repaired 3 missed purlins on my pole barn when we installed the roof 2 years ago, and it worked perfectly.

 

[redmondjp]

I've used Permatex Ultra Gray silicone on metal roofs successfully. It is flexible and has a wide temperature range so it won't crack or separate. Also, it bonds very well to metal. I typically just use it over the nail or screw heads.

 

[Ironcrow]

I've used SureBond SB-190 for this purpose. It's been on the roof for 10 years and no problem yet.

 

[Musicinabottle]

I've used SureBond SB-190 for this purpose. It's been on the roof for 10 years and no problem yet.

That you know of. Do you even need a roof in Arizona other than to block out the sun?

The problem with caulks is that they don't all of the sudden fail. It starts with a drip. then two drips, then six, then by the time you realize that you have a problem, you have a problem......... complete with rotten wood and so on. The key is to rely on your roofing material and not caulk which does fail without fail.

 

[830singleshot]

Np-1

 

[stingry]

Goof screw. Oversized screw with a neoprene washer

 

[tonyciambrone]

Np-1

Goof screw. Oversized screw with a neoprene washer

I do both these personally. I have been pulling nails out of our old metal roof and replacing with #14 rescue screws with the bonded neoprene washer. Then I put NP-1 over the whole deal. So far so good. Our old "roof inspection" company was just leaving the protruding nail and shooting a glob of whatever caulk was in their gun at the time.