Man, I feel you on the breakfast cooking thing... last summer we had a rooftop that felt like a skillet by 10 am. Honestly, I started keeping an old white tarp handy just to shade the area I'm welding—makes a noticeable difference without messing up temps too much.
"Honestly, I started keeping an old white tarp handy just to shade the area I'm welding—makes a noticeable difference without messing up temps too much."
Sounds practical enough, though I'd be cautious about airflow issues. Still, if it helps you beat the heat without compromising weld quality, can't argue with results...
I've actually done something similar when patching up my shed roof last summer. It wasn't TPO, just regular asphalt shingles, but the heat was brutal. I rigged up an old bedsheet to shade the spot, and it made a surprising difference—felt cooler instantly.
"I'd be cautious about airflow issues."
Good point about airflow though...I noticed if I set it too low, things got stuffy quick. Keeping it higher up helped keep air moving nicely without losing the shade benefit.
I feel your pain on the airflow thing. Last summer, I decided to tackle redoing the flashing around my chimney—first time homeowner, first time DIYer, what could possibly go wrong, right? Anyway, it was one of those scorching July days where the air felt like soup. I figured I'd get clever and set up one of those cheap pop-up canopy tents from a backyard BBQ to keep the sun off me.
Well, it worked great at first. Instant shade, felt like a genius. But after about 20 minutes, I realized I'd basically built myself a personal sauna. Zero breeze under there, just hot stagnant air. I swear it felt hotter than being directly in the sun. Ended up having to raise the legs way up and angle it funny just to let some airflow through. Looked ridiculous, neighbors probably thought I was building some weird rooftop fort or something.
Anyway, lesson learned: shade is great, but airflow is king. If you're welding TPO roofing (which I've never done but sounds intense), I'd guess you'd want to balance shade and ventilation carefully. Maybe a fan or something would help too? Not sure how practical that is on a roof though...
Haha, your rooftop fort comment cracked me up...been there myself. Last summer I tried painting my deck railing in similar conditions—thought I'd be smart and rigged up a tarp for shade. Same result: instant sauna. Ended up ditching the tarp altogether because even a slight breeze felt better than shade with zero airflow. Anyway, props for tackling chimney flashing on your own, that's gutsy. Maybe a small battery-powered fan could help up there? Not sure how practical it'd be, but worth a shot...
