[East Broad Top]

Does anyone have any ideas for what could pass for rolled roofing? Here are the criteria:

1) Easy to acquire, i.e., available at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.
2) Long lasting without maintenance.
3) Has to be glued to an uneven surface such as a cast shingle roof, etc.
4) Reasonably prototypic appearance, i.e, not too coarse

I've got an old Pola warehouse (y'all know the one) that I'm refurbishing. The tile roof is obviously not going to work for a rural Pennsylvania wood shop. I don't want to have to remove the original roof, I just want to put something on top of what's there. I suppose I could glue sheet styrene onto the roof to give me an even surface to work with, but if I'm going to do that, I'll just glue Precision Products shingles on instead. (This is column fodder, hence my question. I've got lots of esoteric solutions, but "simple" is paramount.)

Later,

K

 

[Josef Rieder]

EBT,
There are two things I can thing of that simulate asphalt roofing. One is toilet paper sprayed with black paint and the other is fine-grit sand paper. The latter will probably hold up better outside and you can definitely find sand paper at Lowe's or the depot. Another thing to look at a is texture coating, but it may be hard to get black texture coat since most people don't paint their houses that color. Good Hunting!

 

[Henson]

Kevin, I use black waterproof abrasive paper no. 60 are whatever looks right for the job. Cut in strips to represent 36 in. rolled roofing. I buy assortment pack at outlet stores but it can be found at HD or Lowe's.

 

[Paul Norton]

In the recently posted thread “New JigStones Station” there are two JigStones buildings both with rooves/ruffs made from a roll of “ice dam”. It has become the roofing product of choice on all IPP&W buildings because it is easy to work with, durable and realistic. It comes in large rolls, so you may want to see if you can mooch some scraps from a roofing contractor rather than buy a whole roll at Home Depot.

 

[altterrain]

3M tread tape. You'll find in with the other tapes in the paint dept. It comes in a few different widths.

-Brian

 

[pimanjc]

I used aluminum furnace tape [not duct tape]on the station house. Spare shingles from the house were used on some of the other buildings.

JimC.

 

[Guest]

i would use sand "paper".
but the sort, that has some kind of cloth on the hindside.
to make a smooth surface, i would smear silicon sealer on the existing shingles, or the youghurt-like stuff, one uses to repair cracks in plasterwalls.

 

[sbaxters4]

The other option that I have used but is a bit harder to work with is the spray on Automotive undercoating/soundproofing. You can find it at Home depot is a spray type can. When I used it I sprayed it in an old pop can then poured/brushed it on thick. It is weatherproof and if you use a brush you can get some good definition so it looks like rolled rooling. Play around with it before trying it on your finished product.... It's tricky....

 

[Joe McGarry]

Altterrain mentioned 3-M tread tape above. There is also a "non skid" tread paint, I believe it is also made by 3-M. I used some on a plywood ramp some years ago. That stuff really sticks, has grit in it like sandpaper. Believe I got mine at HD paint dept. Use an old brush, the grit is hard to get out of the bristles.

 

[Sourdoh]

I have used the Tread Tape with good result. It is relatively expensive, but it will last for years outside. After all, it is designed to go on steps and landings outside and stand up to many thousands of people scuffing over it. Think of how well it will last with no one (hopefully) stepping on it! The look is good too. It simulates a tar and gravel roof the best, but it will look great as rolled roofing as well. the adhesive backing will stick to anything. As mentioned above, the Tread Paint works good too, but it doesn't simulate the strips of rolled roofing as easily.

 

[R.W. Marty]

Hi K,
I have used a product with pretty fair results, it's called;
Cork Insulation Tape made by Diversitech Cat. No 6-330. It is 1/8th thick by
2" wide cork empregnated mastic tape, sticky on both sides. One side is a very
smooth texture while the other is rough. I cut it to the 3 foot width (1:20) and
applied it rough side up then dusted it with fine sand to add a mineral felt look and
take away the stickiness.

If your interested you can see a picture of a building I used it on here.

http://www.largescalecentral.com/LSCForums/viewtopic.php?id=8886

Later
Rick Marty

 

[SlateCreek]

My station and freight house were built by Randy Bryie of Pacific Coast Garden Railway Supply.... the sponsor of this particular forum. I'm not sure exactly what he uses but it looks great ... maybe he'd chime in if you asked.

http://mysite.verizon.net/bryie/pcgrs/id36.html

Matthew (OV)

 

[Madstang]

OK I have to say this..even though it may have been stated above.

Kevin I have heard of using wet and dry sand paper...

I have used the abrasive tape you use for traction on steps..that is a little thicker but looks pretty good, as for the wet dry paper I have never used it and do not know how well that will hold up in the weather.

This one I thought about but have never used...spread glue or brush on glue on the surface, then pour very fine sand or the stuff you can by at a hardware store that is like the abrasive substance on the abrasive tape for steps but comes in a can loose and pourable..which is like senthetic granuales, but the proper name excapes me.

Hope this helps.

Bubba

 

[Russell Miller]

Kevin,
Click on the TAP Plastics Banner, go to Adhesive Tapes under the Repair Products heading and look down the photos to Non-Skid Tape. This is an exterior grade non-skid that comes 12" wide and has worked extremely well for Outdoor Structure Roofs built by BAGRS Members This same material is sold at your local Skate Board Shop to use on the decks of Skate Boards. I sell it for $3.50 per foot and is Black in color and looks great as roofing material. This is the best stuff I have found.
Russ Miller

 

[FH&PB]

I think it's really easy to overdo the texture and still not get the look you want. What I see when looking as a tarpaper roof from a distance is (1) a matte grey surface and (2) tar lines where the sheets have been sealed together.

So, I painted my roofs dark matte grey and then painted "joints" with a really cheap brush (to get the sloppy tar mop look) and satin black bottled paint (half-and-half matte and gloss black). It looks just like the real thing, to my eye.

 

[Bruce Chandler]

I used the non-skid tape from TAP on the roof of my largest building - cut into strips and then applied black E-6000 between them.

It looks good from a distance as well.

 

[East Broad Top]

Thanks, guys. I got some step tread tape from Home Depot, and it worked surprisingly well, given the cast clay tile on the original roof. As it stands right now, it's far too black, so I'm definitely going to have to paint it grey and add the tar lines as Bruce illustrates above. Good thing the roof isn't very large; one roll doesn't go too far.

Later,

K

 

[VillageRail]

Lots of good ideas above using different types of tape/paper to change to look on a plastic roof. I'll have to try the non-skid tape. I have done a lot of the plastic buildings, so I go through a lot of spray paint. I'll have about 15 different ones ready at any given time. For roofing purposes I have been trying out the different types of textured spray paints. For plastic buildings this is quick, easy, and works pretty well.

Paul