Today I made a foolhardy attempt to fix a leak in the roof. I have a two story house, and the upstairs attic is cramped and dusty. Loose insulation comes to a depth of eight inches minimum, buring the 2x4s and covering the drywall floor. That’s right, the drywall is just nailed to the 2x4s and that’s my floor in that attic.
The leak was a good ten feet from the access hole, and thus I had to climb up there, remaining on the 2x4s at all times. Falling through the sheetrock would have been catastrophic since the leak is over the stairs going to the first floor. A good 15 foot drop to the landing then a roll down the rest of the stairs.
Needless to say, I used extreme caution up there., moving slowly and deliberately. I don’t like going up there and I don’t want to do it again. Sitting for 30 minutes in an awkward position trying to coat the plywood of the ceiling with patch tar was, well, let’s say it was loads of fun. Stiff muscles and fatigue made the difficulty extra challenging. On top of that, I had no evidence of where the leak exactly was, other than the wet spot in the insulation. I took my best guess and sealed up far more than was probably necessary. I just hope I got the leak.
By the way, WD-40 gets patch tar off your hands.