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.

Friday and the Project's Almost Done

You ever have one of those typical Belizean mornings? The kind, where you have, say, four stops on your list? I did, this morning.

First, I needed to get some cash, so I stopped and cashed a check, like I usually do.

Next, I wanted to go to You Have Mail, up on Seventh Avenue, just past the bus terminal. The little sign in the window from Wendell, the proprietor, said he'd be back around 9:30 AM - it was about two minutes past nine.

Instead of waiting for half an hour or so, I thought I'd cruise around and see if I could find the place where Carlos, our caretaker thought he remembered that they sold clay pots. No. Naturally, I couldn't find it.

So I swung around and decided to stop at Contour Cement Products. They have pots in the sizes I was looking for, but naturally, only display models with plants in them. He thought he could have some pots made up by Friday. I told him thanks and that I would stop by then.

Last on the list, Terrence, and the lawn mower. I'd been chasing this down for three or four days after the date he'd promised it would be done by. Again, this morning, it wasn't ready. Ok, I told Terrence I'd check back tomorrow or so.

Wow! Was that a lot of running around for nothing or what?

Giving up or giving in, I returned home and had a cup of tea. My phone chirped it's usual "Message for your Sir." from Monty Python. It was Terrence letting me know the mower was ready.

Wow, again! I jumped back in the wagon with the girls and we headed over to Terrences. Collecting the mower, I thought I'd break the hex and hit You have Mail once again. Be back at 9:30, eh? 10:45 and still no Wendell. Maybe another day. And, next time, I'll call first.

We're going to play bingo this afternoon for the dogs and cats - a fundraiser for the Corozal Animal Program (https://www.facebook.com/corozalanimalprogram/?ref=py_c). Maybe my luck will change... Wanna bet?

Let's see now. where are we with the project?

Flashing Installed Along Side House

Because of the tension of the shade cloth, the beam nearest the house bowed slightly. This normally wouldn't be a problem.

But, we had some high-ish winds just the other day, which blew a bunch of leaves onto the roof fabric from our Gumbo Limbo tree.

Normally, the leaves blow on and off the roof going from one side to the other. Not this day. The wind changed direction, and guess what? Those leave that normally blew off? Well, they blew off right down the space of the bow. Our nice covered deck looked like there was no roof on it at all.

What was the solution? An easy fix. Get some lengths of angled flashing and screw it into place. Now, no more leaves and no way for bugs to easily get in to the deck.

Grommets and Screws

Along the concrete beam, tensioning the roof fabric is no problem. As you can see in these two shots, the fabric lays nice and flat, even in a strong wind.

More Grommets and Screws

 All that holds the fabric now is grommets in the fabric and a corresponding screw into the concrete (or metal) of the chain. It makes a nice cover. There was no easy way to cover the gap with the fabric, so installing the flashing was a good workaround.

Before the Concrete Patch Goes In

Here's the area where the leaks appeared. It was water seeping behind the tiles of the waterfall that were also seeping through the porous block and creating a pool between the actual wall of the pump house and the sloped wall of the waterfall. Some holes drilled back through the sloped wall allow the seeping water to return to the pool without seeping through. We've had the waterfall running for a couple of days to make sure there is no more seepage. Now the cavity can be filled with concrete and all should be good to go.

Endher Smoothing the Patch

Endher applying the final coat of mud to finish the new patch.

Endher and Randy Checking the Work

Endher and Randy giving their work a final check before leaving for the day, giving the concrete a chance to dry enough to begin painting it and hide signs of a patch.

New Concrete/New Paint

New concrete boxing in the three pipes, which control in order from the left, the spa jets, the two pool side jets, and the three pool end jets. It's just waiting for a final coat of white paint.

 Wide Angle

Here's a view of the overall plumbing for the pool. All that has to be added now is a valve and unions so we can shut off the main floor drain. That way, when Huey needs to run around and really vacuum up a storm, shut the main drain off, open the skimmer. Since Huey now has his own port to plug into, we get more bang for our buck when vacuuming as the skimmer can work at the same time as Huey, since we don't have to plug Huey into the skimmer.

Our New Solar Cover

I almost got rid of the solar cover, but I'm glad I saved it. I replaced the old cover, a simple matter of detaching the old cover from the reel and attaching the new cover. Then you have to get in the pool with a pair of scissors and trim the cover to size.

An End Shot of the Cover

As you can see, the new cover is still suffering from wrinkle-osis. Once it's trimmed to proper size, that will eventually go away.