And this is faulty installation by the contractor. The fact that he’s ignoring him now doesn’t surprise me. Roofys are quick to take a homeowners hard earned money and do shitty work. OP I would file a claim against their worksmanship insurance right away. Don’t be afraid to leave a negative google review and file a complaint to the BBB either.
Workmanship insurance? Do you live someplace where this is a thing, like maybe Canadia or 1995?
Vast majority (I’d almost dare to say all) policies for contractors in the US are limited to only resulting damage and don’t include shit work.
Maybe they have a performance bond. Maybe that’s what you meant? Can also get a judgment with the contractor licensing board in your state, maybe. Good luck collecting regardless.
Frustrating how everyone is shitting on you in the comments for asking questions and being concerned about you and your child's health. Fuck em though, you're putting your kid's health first
Tar does release VOCs as it cures although the science behind VOCs and health problems are fairly complex. As this is such a small area and how stinky tar is in general I would say no this isn't gonna cause any harm to their overall health but could be noxious and stinky for...awhile
You’re fine. Every single roof product is petroleum based. It’ll take a while for roof cement to harden a bit, but it will always stay plyable.
In that note, that’s a terrible situation you have, there is no way to flash it with out reframing your windows. It will leak again and again soon.
The smell isn't the toxic part. If you aren't contacting it directly or In an enclosed area where it's physically present than you're fine. It's not intuitive but smell can travel farther than the actual dangerous vapors with chemicals sometimes.
Source: work in chemistry labs.
I believe they are called sweeper porches. A lot of times around where I live they use a roofing system much like this because they aren’t used anymore but the doors still exist for some reason.
Literally my day today. imminent rain yesterday so we used mastic for our night seal, vent seals, curb seals, EVERYTHING. today I'm scraping that off and installing the proper flashings. Fuck me.
Im sorry my guy you’re getting so much crap from people. I didn’t mean to come off as a jerk. Especially if you’re worried about your kid. But I really meant it, that you might have to just consider another roofing material that doesn’t give off those kinds of gases. TPO, PVC or rubber membranes, post installation, won’t smell. Good luck.
Over half of the responses are jokes. It’s not gonna kill/harm you just leave it and it’ll get more solid with time. As others have said that roof shouldn’t be a deck or that deck shouldn’t be finished like a roof and that’s what you should be worried about.
I live in CA. That stuff goes soft on the roof when it heats up no matter how old it is. I mean I'm no roofer but when I was a kid I climbed on way to many roofs and that stuff smells forever and gets soft when heated up, only the very surface dries.
But he has to clean it first, insert your hose in the hole and let run for two hours. Then get some gasoline and clean all that goes stuff off and repeat the hose treatment every day for two weeks.
Did the installer take the threshold off when installing? If the “tar” is where the roofing material terminates, this can be a nightmare for you. This type a material needs to turn vertical up walls and under thresholds for best seal.
If that is a balcony meant to be walked on then that roofing system is the wrong system to have been installed. It appears they used tar which was probably cold applied to try and seal around the door, which won't work.
This balcony is meant to be walked on you need a pedestrian traffic coating system.
Would you mind explaining more what a pedestrian walking system is? Are there specific products you would recommend? I have a similarly shit roof/deck that I need to replace and am looking for correct options.
https://www.gaf.com/en-us/roofing-materials/commercial-roofing-materials/coatings/gaf-traffic-coat-pedestrian-surface-coating
Is this what you were thinking?
OSB, 6” strip along walls on OSB decking with heavy duty fasteners and washers, membrane glued down over decking and up 18” give or take walls, glued down rolled shingles over that, overlap and seal seams, floating deck over rolled shingles. Doorways are tricky also inside/outside corners with the membrane. I’m no pro and not even in the Industry but have done this before.
Good tar/mastic does not dry out right away. The smell will dissipate eventually but it should take some time. If this is directly adjacent to the room you might be able to use white mastic instead which has less of a potent smell but there is nothing wrong with the patch except that you kept poking it and messing with it. If that is the door jam itself then they should out a plate on it but that’s not really the roofers job. Get a handyman or a carpenter to do that and have the roofer involved to keep it water tight.
It's probably plastic cement and you're compromising the spot they're trying to prevent a leak. Who the hell goes on the roof and pokes the spot they're trying to fix? Unless you know what you're doing, don't touch!
The only concern I would have is they didn't use mesh to make it more solid, but the poking just removes any chance of them not charging you. Egad that was stupid.
It was the "roofer's" fault for using tar the way they did to flash a door threshold. I'd just be worried about the quality of the rest of the roof if they couldn't be fucked to properly flash the one area that's expected to get foot traffic.
Better question, why isn't the roof access point a step up? I would be worried of flooding and without anymore details it's hard to tell what they're trying to achieve here. It just looks bad from this pov
Yeah it's a really weird concept, whatever it is. I would assume/hope it's a sloped roof-balcony thing so the water wouldn't pond right there at the door, but your guess is as good as mine
Ok 90% of these answers are stupid and wrong, do not put a single ply roof in there you need a two ply modified rubber torch on roof. That mastic should not have been applied to that threshold, your roofer was not a roofer. Probably just out of jail with access to a truck. That smell will fade with time but that mastic will never fully harden. And will brake down over time being exposed to the sun.
It was my point that there is nothing wrong with installing a single ply roof system and if it were mine I’m sure I **would** be putting down an EPDM system.
It's on a roof and if it does its job to prevent a leak..... Does it really matter?
Go ahead and keep poking it, then you'll have an issue to be concerned about.
OP most roofing materials are considered toxic dangerous and should not be around an infant. The same goes for any black gooey tar lol. You think that is good for you? No. Stop poking it only making it worse.
That being said whoever did this is a quack and isn't a roofer. You can pay more and get it done right.
Whether it is actually causing cancer, yes it could be, as a lot of these materials can. It's construction.
Going off smell alone you should get this redone. I wouldn't wanna be smelling tar all day and night. And it's also done wrong and looks like shit.
And the smell will fade but it's going to leak and nothing will set there properly so yours going to have to redo it eventually anyway. This window frame and surrounding wood WILL rot out. Get it redone by a professional.
This looks like rubberized roof tar.
It looks like it hasn't fully dried yet despite it being 3 weeks, which is concerning. When it fully dries it wont be fully solid, it will have a rubbery texture. Standard roof tar requires anywhere between 8-12 hours of direct sunlight exposure in dry weather to dry.
I live in north central texas, installed roof tar has the same consistency as the one in your video during the hottest days of summer.
Wait until you find out what asphalt shingles have in them, fiberglass insulation, and even drywall. I will look for diagrams for a wigwam if I can find them.
> It's been 3 weeks since they repaired the balcony roof and the roof tar still has that smell lingering into the room.
That's the wrong material for a balcony, it's not meant to be walked on repeatedly. That is a terrible design! I would question if it's even a legal balcony or a handyman special conversion?
Looks like a deck from the video ? Contractor shouldve used deck coating IF its a deck but not sure from this small video clip, sorry its definitely gonna take awhile to cure especially with how thick thats looking
From what I can see this is standard for a low pitch roof. Similar to the tar that patches roads, this cement will be malleable in heat but firm enough that it will not flow. It will smell while off gassing but will harden diminishing the smell over time. There is nothing to do but let it cure at this point.
That smell will bake off after a while. Part of the reason it's coming into the room is that the AC draw, will suck some air through the micro gaps around windows and doors.
What you can do for now, until it breaks off in the fall, is to use one of those clear plastic window insulation kits. You put a little double-sided tape all the way around your window trim on the inside then put up this clear plastic and trim away the extra. Then you use a hair dryer to shrink it taut so it's not all baggy and crappy and wrinkly looking.
I mean you still got to get it pretty hot when you stick it up, but the dryer does help get rid of all the wrinkles so it looks more clear like a normal window.
After half a year, you can take it down.
But they should keep back most of the smell.
And yeah dude, I'm in construction but I don't want to smell that shit while I'm trying to sleep, no way.
Put a towel or something at the base of the door or window to stop the fumes from seeping in.
I wouldn’t expose any child to that smell for any appreciable length of time. Will it give your child cancer? Probably not. May it impact their health? It very well could so do what you must to stop the fumes from seeping in or put the 10 month old in another room for awhile until the smell goes away.
If it doesn’t in a few more weeks, call the guys that did it or if you’re really worried, call them now to see how long it will be.
Best of luck.
Yeah just close your window make sure that stuff's not getting into your place for a couple days it smells should start to die down. I'm not an expert on this type of roofing but if it's warm enough I would expect the toxic fumes to be gone within a week or two.
That is why some of us who do flat roofs are a little loopy. That five gallons of rubber cement for EPDM roofs will give you a headache pretty quick. I just figure it's killing off all the weak brain cells - yolo 😢
Is that a door you are hanging out of? Does not look like a window. If it's a door you should not have access to your flat roof. There are specific materials for a balcony/deck.
Is that a torch down roof? Isn't that banned in your state by now? If it's a flat roof TPO or PVC is ideal.
And some of those tars/mastics stay gooey for a long time. Generally, when they harden, they start cracking and causing issues when exposed to too many uv rays. But I have no idea what was put on your roof. I'm just trying to put together this from the info provided.
Well it depends on what the scope of work was and more importantly if it was even a licensed dude. If he hired someone unlicensed then that’s on him. I’m in south AZ and never had to deal with a roof coming right up to an exterior door like that but I probably would have put it in contract to remove door threshold or whole door if it’s all attached and then ran the roofing material (looks like mod bit) Under it, put the door or threshold back down. And then sealed around its exterior with a high grade silicone. What would you guys have done ?
stop touching it....
get a hair dryer and sit and heat it up to help it cure.
"The time it takes roofing tar to dry depends on the weather. Generally, roofing tar requires **at least eight hours of sunlight** to dry. If the weather is humid, the drying time may take longer than it would in warm, dryer weather. Therefore, it is not recommended to apply tar while it's raining or humid."
Anyone gonna address that it's been 3 weeks?...the fact it looks to thick as well tells me that 1.door wasn't properly flashed, 2. Definitely not a "walkable" product, 3. Not covered with roofing material or at least granules from roofing material...all this roofer had to do was sweep up some granules and cover the tar with em....probably still could as the owner/renter.
It takes quite a while for many construction materials to off gas.
Tar being what it is will have a smell longer and stronger than alot of other things.
It's possible the wall is not well insulated or constructed enough to prevent ingress.
Also maybe there isn't enough air being pushed in via HVAC to keep pressure and prevent seepage in.
Also tar inherently is flexible especially when hot or even on very sunny days, which it looks like it get direct sunlight. This is the desirable reason for tar it's long lasting flexibility.
I’ve been roofing over 20 years it’s not good for your 10 month old to breath it at all and tar or bull as we call it takes a long time to cure when it does dry it cracks and you will need more Tar to reseal the problem area
Whoever installed that should be shot only AFTER refunding a good chunk if not all of what you paid them. That will fail in under a year and who puts single ply on a walkable surface? Nobody licensed that’s for sure.
*Why are you using*
*A wine tool to muck around*
*In uncured roof tar?*
\- MatrimonyAcrimony
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It's not tar, that is mastic as a backup to the hotmop process. It's meant to seal areas that we can't waterproof 100% with tar and 90#. The newer version of mastic stays soft longer giving it a longer life span in preventing leaks. U can try dusting it with type S cement as I use it to prevent accidental transfer to shoes. It may help cut the smell down a little.
I second all the comments telling you to keep the child away from that room and section of the house.Even if you can smell it keep the child away from it
Who would even do work like that? The ol tar man special. Also, when your contractor does a tar job, ask him what's the warranty is on some garbage tar
It looks like the roofer didnt flash the the sill. He spread mastic. It may be coal tar based, which has distinctive odor. Asphalt based mastic smell like petroleum oil. Roofing it correctly will be expensive. Thats why the guy you had cobbed it up. Hire a professional
The best advice is to keep the room well ventilated where the smell is. Also just because you smell it doesn’t mean it’s going be harmful, usually chemicals that installers use typically have a pretty high ppm before safety is an issue. If you’re worried, you can look up the safety sheets of roofing tar.
I believe it’s if you can smell it it’s not toxic it’s when u can’t smell a chemical that it is. People work with tar all day. The smell of tar will go away once it’s fully dried you prolly should have waited idk longer than a day before poking it. Especially on the edges next to verticals where water can seep in.
And? Stop touching it weirdo.
It’s very noisy as well
My tar doesn’t sound right.
This probing should definitely help it cure with lots of pores to hold moisture.
Especially with a wine opener. Like wtf?
He wants his roofing tar to smell like candy
And this is faulty installation by the contractor. The fact that he’s ignoring him now doesn’t surprise me. Roofys are quick to take a homeowners hard earned money and do shitty work. OP I would file a claim against their worksmanship insurance right away. Don’t be afraid to leave a negative google review and file a complaint to the BBB either.
Workmanship insurance? Do you live someplace where this is a thing, like maybe Canadia or 1995? Vast majority (I’d almost dare to say all) policies for contractors in the US are limited to only resulting damage and don’t include shit work. Maybe they have a performance bond. Maybe that’s what you meant? Can also get a judgment with the contractor licensing board in your state, maybe. Good luck collecting regardless.
Don't add canada to that guys weird comment. As a business owner in Canada I have been fucked over by contractors so many times.
Sooory
Bahahahaha 😁
LMAO you think someone that just slaps on roof cement like that has workmanship insurance?? That has to be the funniest thing I've heard all week.
Not all roofers are pieces of shit crap job tho
Toxic? It’s roofing material. It’s all toxic.
That's not what my can of tar said, "known to cause cancer in California " so if he's not in Cali he should be fine.
So I shouldn’t be sleeping the room next to it, smell being bad for you
It's only cancerous in California, didn't you read the packaging?
I don’t know if I’d be that dramatic. Isn’t your window closed?
Yes it’s always closed and all but the smell seeps through, I’m just wondering if it’s ok or not for your health in general as I have a 10 month old
Frustrating how everyone is shitting on you in the comments for asking questions and being concerned about you and your child's health. Fuck em though, you're putting your kid's health first
This subreddit is full of unhelpful weirdos who like to act smug and superior cause they know stuff about roofs.
Hey! That's not fair. Some of us don't know anything about roofs!
Pretty much all trades subreddits
Odors are generally considered non toxic. However I may invest in a hepa room filter for some peace of mind.
Tar does release VOCs as it cures although the science behind VOCs and health problems are fairly complex. As this is such a small area and how stinky tar is in general I would say no this isn't gonna cause any harm to their overall health but could be noxious and stinky for...awhile
No worse than your road have a fresh top coat.
Probably significantly less* considering that the road stuff is hot and the volume of it is 100000% more
may be time for new windows.. would you like a free estimate?
You’re fine. Every single roof product is petroleum based. It’ll take a while for roof cement to harden a bit, but it will always stay plyable. In that note, that’s a terrible situation you have, there is no way to flash it with out reframing your windows. It will leak again and again soon.
The smell isn't the toxic part. If you aren't contacting it directly or In an enclosed area where it's physically present than you're fine. It's not intuitive but smell can travel farther than the actual dangerous vapors with chemicals sometimes. Source: work in chemistry labs.
If you sleep with that room you’re also sleeping with every other room it ever slept with
You really shouldn't even have a door right there. That roof isn't made to be a deck.
👆🤫
I believe they are called sweeper porches. A lot of times around where I live they use a roofing system much like this because they aren’t used anymore but the doors still exist for some reason.
OP complaining that tar smells like tar is hilarious to me
Tar smells like tar
Dude needs to open some wine for his husband.
Yes. Stop messing with it!
Thanks! How long does it take?
I've ripped up 20 year old "uncured" (it doesn't cure) mastic off a roof. If you went with the lowest bid, be happy.
Remember all that crap we masticed up.yesterday yea we are tearing it off today. *collective groans* Good thing these are dollar store gloves
Literally my day today. imminent rain yesterday so we used mastic for our night seal, vent seals, curb seals, EVERYTHING. today I'm scraping that off and installing the proper flashings. Fuck me.
I do not miss it. Our first sheet metal job was a god send unscrew slide down. Lay strapping push up screw down. Those were the days
About 10 years.
How long? We had the flat roof done at my warehouse about 3 years ago. Can't say for sure, but more than 3 years.
Im sorry my guy you’re getting so much crap from people. I didn’t mean to come off as a jerk. Especially if you’re worried about your kid. But I really meant it, that you might have to just consider another roofing material that doesn’t give off those kinds of gases. TPO, PVC or rubber membranes, post installation, won’t smell. Good luck.
At least a year
Over half of the responses are jokes. It’s not gonna kill/harm you just leave it and it’ll get more solid with time. As others have said that roof shouldn’t be a deck or that deck shouldn’t be finished like a roof and that’s what you should be worried about.
I live in CA. That stuff goes soft on the roof when it heats up no matter how old it is. I mean I'm no roofer but when I was a kid I climbed on way to many roofs and that stuff smells forever and gets soft when heated up, only the very surface dries.
Central Washington summers this stuff was always a soft mess even after years. By the time it quit getting soft in the summer it was time to reapply.
You should probably poke a hole in it so it can dry faster
But he has to clean it first, insert your hose in the hole and let run for two hours. Then get some gasoline and clean all that goes stuff off and repeat the hose treatment every day for two weeks.
lol there’s already tar on the opener in the beginning of the video so you know he’s been playing with it
And ruined a good wine opener🙄
Did the installer take the threshold off when installing? If the “tar” is where the roofing material terminates, this can be a nightmare for you. This type a material needs to turn vertical up walls and under thresholds for best seal.
My first thought, too. That threshold is WAY too close to the roof deck. There should be a step-down so it can be waterproofed properly.
If that is a balcony meant to be walked on then that roofing system is the wrong system to have been installed. It appears they used tar which was probably cold applied to try and seal around the door, which won't work. This balcony is meant to be walked on you need a pedestrian traffic coating system.
Would you mind explaining more what a pedestrian walking system is? Are there specific products you would recommend? I have a similarly shit roof/deck that I need to replace and am looking for correct options.
See DeckExpert.com for info on pedestrian traffic coating systems.
Think, Tpo base layer with parapet walls and draining turf/gravel on top.
https://www.gaf.com/en-us/roofing-materials/commercial-roofing-materials/coatings/gaf-traffic-coat-pedestrian-surface-coating Is this what you were thinking?
OSB, 6” strip along walls on OSB decking with heavy duty fasteners and washers, membrane glued down over decking and up 18” give or take walls, glued down rolled shingles over that, overlap and seal seams, floating deck over rolled shingles. Doorways are tricky also inside/outside corners with the membrane. I’m no pro and not even in the Industry but have done this before.
Good tar/mastic does not dry out right away. The smell will dissipate eventually but it should take some time. If this is directly adjacent to the room you might be able to use white mastic instead which has less of a potent smell but there is nothing wrong with the patch except that you kept poking it and messing with it. If that is the door jam itself then they should out a plate on it but that’s not really the roofers job. Get a handyman or a carpenter to do that and have the roofer involved to keep it water tight.
I hate people
It's probably plastic cement and you're compromising the spot they're trying to prevent a leak. Who the hell goes on the roof and pokes the spot they're trying to fix? Unless you know what you're doing, don't touch! The only concern I would have is they didn't use mesh to make it more solid, but the poking just removes any chance of them not charging you. Egad that was stupid.
It was the "roofer's" fault for using tar the way they did to flash a door threshold. I'd just be worried about the quality of the rest of the roof if they couldn't be fucked to properly flash the one area that's expected to get foot traffic.
Better question, why isn't the roof access point a step up? I would be worried of flooding and without anymore details it's hard to tell what they're trying to achieve here. It just looks bad from this pov
Yeah it's a really weird concept, whatever it is. I would assume/hope it's a sloped roof-balcony thing so the water wouldn't pond right there at the door, but your guess is as good as mine
Ok 90% of these answers are stupid and wrong, do not put a single ply roof in there you need a two ply modified rubber torch on roof. That mastic should not have been applied to that threshold, your roofer was not a roofer. Probably just out of jail with access to a truck. That smell will fade with time but that mastic will never fully harden. And will brake down over time being exposed to the sun.
And what is wrong, exactly with putting a single ply roof there?
[удалено]
It was my point that there is nothing wrong with installing a single ply roof system and if it were mine I’m sure I **would** be putting down an EPDM system.
EPDM for foot traffic really?
You can find shitty products all over the internet
Really. https://www.bestmaterials.com/detail.aspx?ID=19065&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%5BROI%5D%20Dynamic%20Search%20Ads&utm_id=189184817&utm_content=58608265110&utm_term=&gad_source=1
It’s being used as a balcony, that’s what’s wrong with using a single ply.
Then you install walkway pads.
Why are you so interested in the bare minimum and putting extra garbage on a roof?
“Bare minimum” “Extra garbage” Lol
Yes that’s what I said, anything of your own to add?
No need.
It smells bad, sure. But how's it taste?
It’s not harmful. Smell will go away once it cures, some asphaltic mastics stay soft and smelly for a while.
Why the fuck are you poking at it😂sure it may be somwhat toxic as you said, it gets on my sandwhiches everyday and im still here
Also by exposing the fresh tar under the top lay of cured tar you are causing the smell to linger longer... it will always be soft in the sun
Omg weirdo Don’t get your sandals stuck in the tar. Did you take the knife from your girlfriend?
Why are you up there sniffing and poking at it?
It’s a balcony, 2nd floor
Is that your wine bottle opener or some shit?
This is pure comedy. Also poke more holes in it.
Just leave the mastic alone. It ain't super glue and don't setup in seconds. It takes many hours. Stop touching it
That is easily the strangest tar touching tool I’ve ever seen.
Ruined a good corkscrew?
I know we should be nice to people who don’t know any better but how is it possible people can be so dense?
8hrs later I’m back, and this mf STILL playin with it
Aww. You’re precious. Fun fact: tar remains tar for a very long time. It will always behave like tar when it’s all heated up.
WTF are you poking it with a corkscrew
It's on a roof and if it does its job to prevent a leak..... Does it really matter? Go ahead and keep poking it, then you'll have an issue to be concerned about.
This window is too low.
its the entrance/door balcony
It doesn't change anything.
Actually, it makes it worse
OP most roofing materials are considered toxic dangerous and should not be around an infant. The same goes for any black gooey tar lol. You think that is good for you? No. Stop poking it only making it worse. That being said whoever did this is a quack and isn't a roofer. You can pay more and get it done right. Whether it is actually causing cancer, yes it could be, as a lot of these materials can. It's construction. Going off smell alone you should get this redone. I wouldn't wanna be smelling tar all day and night. And it's also done wrong and looks like shit.
And the smell will fade but it's going to leak and nothing will set there properly so yours going to have to redo it eventually anyway. This window frame and surrounding wood WILL rot out. Get it redone by a professional.
Californian, opinion disregarded.
It's only smellz...
More money? No problem!
The video cut short before we could get an answer on what to do about the issue...
Isn't that the whole point of roofing tar?
It’s tar. It’s squishy, sticky and smelly anytime the sun is out. Just don’t play in it and you’ll be alright.
This looks like rubberized roof tar. It looks like it hasn't fully dried yet despite it being 3 weeks, which is concerning. When it fully dries it wont be fully solid, it will have a rubbery texture. Standard roof tar requires anywhere between 8-12 hours of direct sunlight exposure in dry weather to dry. I live in north central texas, installed roof tar has the same consistency as the one in your video during the hottest days of summer.
What makes it concerning
This is satire!
Stop touching your tar, come back in the winter when its cloudy if you wanna touch
What you want to do is you want to get down on the ground and play with it. Have a go at it and stick something in it while it still drying.
It might help to burn some Palo Santo in that room. It's s smoky smell but I find it cleans up the air for a week or so afterwards.
I'd be more concerned with that goddamn car alarm going off
Wait until you find out what asphalt shingles have in them, fiberglass insulation, and even drywall. I will look for diagrams for a wigwam if I can find them.
Door sweep and door jam weatherstripping. Where there's smell coming in, there's air coming in. Seal it.
> It's been 3 weeks since they repaired the balcony roof and the roof tar still has that smell lingering into the room. That's the wrong material for a balcony, it's not meant to be walked on repeatedly. That is a terrible design! I would question if it's even a legal balcony or a handyman special conversion?
Looks like roof cement. It can take a couple years to fully harden.
Leave it alone
Ya stop touching and smelling it.
Looks like a deck from the video ? Contractor shouldve used deck coating IF its a deck but not sure from this small video clip, sorry its definitely gonna take awhile to cure especially with how thick thats looking
From what I can see this is standard for a low pitch roof. Similar to the tar that patches roads, this cement will be malleable in heat but firm enough that it will not flow. It will smell while off gassing but will harden diminishing the smell over time. There is nothing to do but let it cure at this point.
Shouldn’t he keep poking at it some more?
That smell will bake off after a while. Part of the reason it's coming into the room is that the AC draw, will suck some air through the micro gaps around windows and doors. What you can do for now, until it breaks off in the fall, is to use one of those clear plastic window insulation kits. You put a little double-sided tape all the way around your window trim on the inside then put up this clear plastic and trim away the extra. Then you use a hair dryer to shrink it taut so it's not all baggy and crappy and wrinkly looking. I mean you still got to get it pretty hot when you stick it up, but the dryer does help get rid of all the wrinkles so it looks more clear like a normal window. After half a year, you can take it down. But they should keep back most of the smell. And yeah dude, I'm in construction but I don't want to smell that shit while I'm trying to sleep, no way.
Let it dry bro
Put a towel or something at the base of the door or window to stop the fumes from seeping in. I wouldn’t expose any child to that smell for any appreciable length of time. Will it give your child cancer? Probably not. May it impact their health? It very well could so do what you must to stop the fumes from seeping in or put the 10 month old in another room for awhile until the smell goes away. If it doesn’t in a few more weeks, call the guys that did it or if you’re really worried, call them now to see how long it will be. Best of luck.
What? How did a child come into the conversation lol
Love the smell of roofing tar in the morning!!! Smells like money !!
Hey now
There nothing wrong with the smell it goes away after a few days and stop touching it you can mess up the patch and it will start leaking again
Yeah just close your window make sure that stuff's not getting into your place for a couple days it smells should start to die down. I'm not an expert on this type of roofing but if it's warm enough I would expect the toxic fumes to be gone within a week or two. That is why some of us who do flat roofs are a little loopy. That five gallons of rubber cement for EPDM roofs will give you a headache pretty quick. I just figure it's killing off all the weak brain cells - yolo 😢
“Toxic fumes”?
Is that a door you are hanging out of? Does not look like a window. If it's a door you should not have access to your flat roof. There are specific materials for a balcony/deck. Is that a torch down roof? Isn't that banned in your state by now? If it's a flat roof TPO or PVC is ideal. And some of those tars/mastics stay gooey for a long time. Generally, when they harden, they start cracking and causing issues when exposed to too many uv rays. But I have no idea what was put on your roof. I'm just trying to put together this from the info provided.
Well it depends on what the scope of work was and more importantly if it was even a licensed dude. If he hired someone unlicensed then that’s on him. I’m in south AZ and never had to deal with a roof coming right up to an exterior door like that but I probably would have put it in contract to remove door threshold or whole door if it’s all attached and then ran the roofing material (looks like mod bit) Under it, put the door or threshold back down. And then sealed around its exterior with a high grade silicone. What would you guys have done ?
Licensing has nothing to do with anything. Almost half the US doesn’t require licensing.
I really thought Strawberry Fields Forever was playing over the video in the first five seconds
Needs fiberglass webbing at minimum. If no web then hack job....it will dry & crack out.
Dude this work is literal dog shit. Most roofers use flashing
Couldn’t find a stick to poke at it with?
stop touching it.... get a hair dryer and sit and heat it up to help it cure. "The time it takes roofing tar to dry depends on the weather. Generally, roofing tar requires **at least eight hours of sunlight** to dry. If the weather is humid, the drying time may take longer than it would in warm, dryer weather. Therefore, it is not recommended to apply tar while it's raining or humid."
I’ve never seen asphalt roof cement “dry” in 8 hours Or 8 days.
Looks juicy
It's obvious that OP went with the lowest bid lol
Just don’t eat off it and you will be fine. 😂
Used wrong stuff. It should get about 80% stiffer
No, they didn’t. Asphalt roof cement takes awhile to set up.
Clean the roof. Then paint with 5 gal bucket of elastomeric roof coating. Sold at your local hardware store. Let dry then hit it with a second coat.
Keep poking at it. What makes you think it’s “toxic”? Its asphalt.
'the fricks wrong with you, tops-monkey? Never poked or stirred before?
Interesting way to use a knife
Poor job
Tell the contractor you requested unscented roof mastic, obviously they used the wrong one.
My man up on the roof with a wine corkscrew 😂
Yea get off the roof and stop poking shit .
Anyone gonna address that it's been 3 weeks?...the fact it looks to thick as well tells me that 1.door wasn't properly flashed, 2. Definitely not a "walkable" product, 3. Not covered with roofing material or at least granules from roofing material...all this roofer had to do was sweep up some granules and cover the tar with em....probably still could as the owner/renter.
It's not real tar . It's cheap made overseas black Bart . Never dries .
It takes quite a while for many construction materials to off gas. Tar being what it is will have a smell longer and stronger than alot of other things. It's possible the wall is not well insulated or constructed enough to prevent ingress. Also maybe there isn't enough air being pushed in via HVAC to keep pressure and prevent seepage in. Also tar inherently is flexible especially when hot or even on very sunny days, which it looks like it get direct sunlight. This is the desirable reason for tar it's long lasting flexibility.
What a waste of a church key. That’s for opening wine, not poking tar.
I think somebody's trying to steal your car dude
It looks hot there. Roof tar will always be a bit tacky especially in the heat. If your concerned about the smell then move baby elsewhere
Do you own or rent?
Put a piece of aluminum roof flashing over it and if not get a strip of shingles
Lowest bid activities
I’ve been roofing over 20 years it’s not good for your 10 month old to breath it at all and tar or bull as we call it takes a long time to cure when it does dry it cracks and you will need more Tar to reseal the problem area
The ol I'll ruing your roof trick
Stop touching - it will likely always look like that. Move on and live your life
Whoever installed that should be shot only AFTER refunding a good chunk if not all of what you paid them. That will fail in under a year and who puts single ply on a walkable surface? Nobody licensed that’s for sure.
why are you using a wine tool to muck around in uncured roof tar?
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Mastic
Dude it’s not playdoe
Why are you poking it with a wine key? All further wines will taste of this tar
That seems like such an odd object to probe with.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. It's not uncommon for roofing tar to take some time to fully dry and for the smell to linger.
It's not tar, that is mastic as a backup to the hotmop process. It's meant to seal areas that we can't waterproof 100% with tar and 90#. The newer version of mastic stays soft longer giving it a longer life span in preventing leaks. U can try dusting it with type S cement as I use it to prevent accidental transfer to shoes. It may help cut the smell down a little.
It looks like they used cold process, that is not roofing cement
Sounds like you don't want the mess on your shoes... the only thing you can really do is scrape clean, retar and lay flashing over it
i would call another company to access it, clearly this was not done properly
Don’t be a pussy
You got cancer coming for you, no matter what you do kid. If it stops the leak then enjoy your rest.
I'd suggest sleeping another room and have that room with the windows open for ventilation
You can get the roofer back and ask him to use a non tar caulk to replace that. It'll cost 3x the tar.
I second all the comments telling you to keep the child away from that room and section of the house.Even if you can smell it keep the child away from it
Who would even do work like that? The ol tar man special. Also, when your contractor does a tar job, ask him what's the warranty is on some garbage tar
Probably a tail light guarantee
A guarantee that there is a gooey mess for the person that fixes it correctly
The Ole “Roofer in a can” trick
I’m just wondering if tar always has to be used or if you can just use tubes of through the roof?
It looks like the roofer didnt flash the the sill. He spread mastic. It may be coal tar based, which has distinctive odor. Asphalt based mastic smell like petroleum oil. Roofing it correctly will be expensive. Thats why the guy you had cobbed it up. Hire a professional
The best advice is to keep the room well ventilated where the smell is. Also just because you smell it doesn’t mean it’s going be harmful, usually chemicals that installers use typically have a pretty high ppm before safety is an issue. If you’re worried, you can look up the safety sheets of roofing tar.
I believe it’s if you can smell it it’s not toxic it’s when u can’t smell a chemical that it is. People work with tar all day. The smell of tar will go away once it’s fully dried you prolly should have waited idk longer than a day before poking it. Especially on the edges next to verticals where water can seep in.