[TheForge] Update [OT - Asphalt shingle rot? (Lichen)]

[Bruce Freeman]

The roofing tar as adhesive,  I thought of, and I used the several
patches applied recently to that end.  What I need is a way of quickly
or automatically applying tar to one side only of the pennies.  For
the nonce, I'm content to see how quickly the pennies migrate down the
roof w/o adhesive.

Tying them together could be iffy.  You do  not want anything on an
asphalt shingle roof that will be dragged back and forth over the same
spot.  Loose stuff like gravel (or pennies) is no problem --  many
houses in So. Calif. have tar paper roofs with loose gravel atop.  A
long wire or a string of pennies could end up wearing holes in the
roof by thermal expansion & contraction or motion of wind and rain.

But that brings to mind another source of copper -- discarded
electrical wire (of any sort).  Clip the pieces down to 1/2" and
they'll not likely be a problem.  To be sure of that, anneal them (to
red heat) in a gas forge before using, so they'll be dead soft.

On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 3:09 PM, Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer
<artgawk at thegrid.net> wrote:
> Place the pennies with a dab of roofing tar.
>
> Bruce Freeman wrote:
>> Well, this is amusing so I thought you might like an update.
>>
>> Before dropping $60+ on copper flashing, I did some more Web-research.
>>  Turns out that those of you who spoke up are apparently right --
>> copper OR zinc cations will kill lichens.
>>
>> So, what's the cheapest source of copper AND zinc metals?  You guessed
>> it -- "copper" pennies.  So now, if you look real close, you'll see
>> pennies scattered on the north-facing side of my roof, mostly near the
>> peak.  I had only about $5 worth of pennies around when I did this, so
>> might go buy another $10 worth for the effort.  I figure with rain and
>> winds, these will tend to wash down the roof, but I'll cross that
>> bridge when I come to it.
>>
>> Meanwhile, I haven't given up on the notion of spraying the roof with
>> copper sulfate, but I've been trying to figure how and how much.
>> Seems to me that if a strip of copper foil across the roof will
>> protect the roof for 30 years or more (so claims that manufacturer),
>> then the concentration of copper needed could NOT be very high.  I
>> haven't actually worked out a number, but it must be vanishingly
>> small.
>>
>> So I envision doing something like putting a half-teaspoon (if that
>> much) copper sulfate, dissolved in water, in a sprayer and spraying
>> the roof with it.  The problem with this is that I do NOT want to
>> inhale the stuff.  So I could use goggles and mask and wait till the
>> wind is right, or I could come up with an alternative way.  I could
>> possibly roll it on like paint, and if I did that I wouldn't even need
>> to cover the whole roof, as it will wash down from the peak to the
>> rest of the roof.
>>
>> Still thinking on it.
>>
> ______________________________________________________________
> TheForge mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
>
> TheForge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> Password: anvil
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>



-- 
Bruce
NJ