Asphalt based products are the mainstay of the roof repair process. Thave been around forever, are cheap and people are comfortable using them. Unfortunately, they don’t last very long and are a real mess to use and clean up. Contractors make them work but homeowners have more trouble.
Fibered aluminum roofing compound is a product with aluminum mixed in with the asphalt. When well mixed and applied to a clean, dry roof it sticks well and creates a shiny surface that reflects light.
You can buy rolls of fiberglass mesh to embed in the asphalt. The technique is to put down a layer of compound, lay the mesh over it, force the mesh into the compound with a trowl, and then put another layer of compound over the top. With the mesh added, this will allow you to cover gaps and make a longer lasting repair than you get without the mesh.
Cleanup is the pits. I always got tar on my hands and clothes, not to mention the tools. Cleanup is with gasoline. That is both dangerous and hard on your skin.Rubber gloves would help but there is no avoiding some mess.
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I am looking to buy a 1978 14×70 MH that (according to the current owner) didn’t have any water problems until this spring (our winter was LONG and snowfilled). There are only a few water spots on the ceiling, three to be exact, all of them are on the outside edges of rooms. Could this just be from the weight of 7 feet of snow that melted this spring? Is there a way to patch the spots inexpensively instead of spending hundreds (we have a very tight budget)?
It sounds like some spray Kilz would probably do the job on the inside. Home Depot or Lowes should have it. Hard to say about the water spots. I can imagine condensation might also be a factor. I guess you do the quick Kilz treatment and then watch it carefully so you catch ongoing problems quickly.
For the outside check the seal between the roof metal and the wall. The screws often loosen over time and caulk dries out and cracks. I can imagine that much snow could have caused some problems. I would replace any screws that are not tight with new ones that are slightly larger than the old ones and then re-caulking.