Fixing the Pool Roof

I hadn't been up on the roof for a while. It wasn't until I went up to begin rehabbing the weather station when I noticed the shade cloth tearing at virtually every anchor point around the perimeter of the roof.

Tearing Easily Evident

Not a good sign and it caused me to begin worrying that if we had a major storm or hurricane, that the fabric likely wouldn't hold up.

What was really worrying, was that tearing was so extensive around the perimeter. I was sure it wouldn't hold up under a major blow at all.

I really didn't want to be chasing bits of shade cloth all over the area.

Shortly After Original Installation

But what to do, that could be done economically and relatively fast and easily?

Salvation came unexpectedly when I drove by Doug and Twyla's house a few weeks ago.

Corozal Glass Truck

I saw the Corozal Glass truck, the same one that's now parked in our driveway, up at Doug and Twyla's. My first thought was that they were probably swapping out some louvers for glass windows or something similar.

The next time I drove by their place, I saw the Corozal Glass guys installing large screens across the arches of Doug and Twyla's veranda.

Oh, ho! so they're screening in their veranda. But wait. Was the screen fabric dark? I wondered if they were using shade cloth. And, they appeared to be using metal framing for the screens.

Extruded Aluminum Channel

The last time I had checked at Corozal Glass was a few years ago when I was first thinking of ways to put an awning up over the pool. They told me then that there wasn't anything available here that would work for shade cloth since it's much more substantial than regular screen fabric.

Even when we started re-screening the porches for the Mennonite house, and our pool house, I assumed that was still the situation. I should have checked again (make note to self - do that more often). As a result, for the roof, a simple arrangement of screws and washers was the solution at the time. Not the best solution, but there you are. For the walls of the pool enclosure and the veranda, we used a frame of treated pine 2x4s and the shade cloth stapled to them.

Setting Up Shop

 Things change in a couple of years. Now they have an extruded aluminum channel that works for shade cloth folded over a rubber spline, giving it a great deal of strength and holding power.

So, we advance to yesterday. I had stopped in at Corozal Glass and asked if they could come give me an estimate. Things worked out and after a couple days, we had our estimate and a work date scheduled.

Beginning the Work

Work on re-attaching the existing shade cloth with the aluminum channel went smoothly and quite fast. It only took the better part of one day for the whole project.

Chuck Working Spline Into Place

The slow part of the job for John and Chuck was, as you might figure, was getting the fabric and the spine in the groove of the channel.

John's Also Working the Spline

In fact, several areas of the project turned out to be easier to wrap the fabric and spline around the channel and screw it down that way. The rubber of the spline keeps the fabric from slipping as well.

Easy to Tell New Edge vs. Old

It's easy to see the difference with the new edge vs. the old. Much less stress on the fabric, which should improve its storm resistance.

Much Cleaner and Even Tension

A nice clean installation.

Roof Edge Covered With Flashing

Along the building edge, we have flashing installed. Not for anything structural with the fabric, but to prevent leaves from the nearby Gumbo Limbo trees from infiltrating down beside the beam right next to the building onto the pool deck. There were a lot of leaves coming down that way. The flashing turned out to be a quick and easy fix

Nearing the End

The day started off with an 80% chance of rain, and it quickly became gloriously sunshiny. Right before luch, it clouded over and we had a light drizzle - not enough to even register on the weather station.

After lunch, it cleared up for most of the afternoon and they were able to finish in good fashion.

All that remains now, is for me to get up on the roof today and carefully sweep and vacuum up all the little metal bits from the project. I need to do this to protect the heater tubes, which are soft plastic from getting needlessly punctured and we'll be good to go.