Re: Roof REPAIRS NEEDED

September 19, 2006

I made the mistake of my life putting a red cedar shake roof on my house--turns

out I am allergic to the wood and the wood also emits pliatic acid which

exacerbate asthma. In the heat of the day, you can really smell it inside of

the house. wood also becomes moldy eventually.

freshairseeker2 <freshairseeker2@...> wrote: I suffer from

chemical and mold injury for starters.

I've been struggling all summer trying to find some safe materials I

can use on my house and detached garage. I live in the Northeast,

and I am going to need some materials appropriate to that climate. I

have limited funds for this project.

First of all, I need to replace the shingles on the sunroom of my

house. There is a third roof of asphalt shingles which needs to

replaced. Is there anything I can use besides asphalt shingles that

will be safer for me? I cannot tolerate petroleum products,

tar,VOC's, vinyl, or pine, etc. However, since it's a third roof, I

don't know if the new shingles will affect me in the attic. The

sunroof is off my bedroom.

Additionally, while I have some roof vents covered with screens in my

attic, I do not have any soffit vents, which my roofer has said I

need in order to ventilate the attic properly. I have a problem with

the air outside one side of the attic, due to my neighbor using toxic

fabric softeners and dryer sheets. Her dryer vent faces that side of

the house, so I am worried about have soffit vents over there.

Other people have suggested I use an attic fan to ventilate. However,

when I had mold remediation done an outgoing fan was put in my

basement for the purpose of shifting the flow of the air in the house

from going up instead of down, so I'm afraid an attic fan would

change the airflow, which I don't want to happen.

My garage with an attached shed is made of concrete blocks, and I

believe some of it may be cinder block. I've had some of it patched

with cement on the inside, but it probably needs more work. The

garage has a flat roof, but the shed is slanted. The roof and the

wood underneath have been leaking a lot for several years. Due to

illness and other issues, I have not been able to replace it in a

timely manner. The garage is very moldy, and since I have problems

with mold, I cannot go in there.

The last roof was a rolled one, and it was wrecked after a short

number of years. I would like to know if there are any roofing

materials that I might be able to tolerate better. Additionally, I

would like to clean up the mold inside the garage if possible. I

cannot tolerate bleach, and I don't have any air cleaners. Someone

suggested I power hose in there and someone else suggested a regular

hose. A third person said that's the last thing I should do. If I

don't get this together, I'll never be able to go in there, and later

if I have to sell it, I will need to have the roof intact.

Any help anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated!

NY State

September 19, 2006

soffit vents: just put then on the remaining sides that need them.

also I would suggest having at least the turbines which remove air whenever

the wind is blowing.

shingles for the sunroom: there are aluminum shakes, tiles, etc. but these have

always been outside my price range. I used the regular shingles on 2 prior

houses and did not experience a problem. It sounds as if you will not require

new decking. If you do, however, I understand there is a foil backed plywood

for this purpose.

garage::I know yours--I have a similar leaning one in my backyard and I keep

the door closed at all times. regarding cleanup--you could try hydrogen

peroxide or misting a solution of boric acid and water. I am clueless other

than to tell you to be careful and hire an inexpensive handyman to do the work.

please do only one part of this work at a time so as to not overload your

living enviornment.

freshairseeker2 <freshairseeker2@...> wrote:

I suffer from chemical and mold injury for starters.