Low Pitch - leaky roof

[bclee05]

Hi,

I live in Massachusetts and have a low pitch (2-3) roof over an addition to the house. At the valley where the low pitch meets a standard pitch roof, there has been some roof leak problems when there is a lot of snow. Last year I had a guy lay down some ice and water shield, but it turns out that it hasn't worked.

I've had a couple of guys come out and offer some solutions. Here are their recommendations:

(Contractor 1): Rubberize the roof. (Contractor 2): Rubberize the roof. (Contractor 3): Use polyglass product which seal the roof like a rubber product, but offer a textured (granulated surface) that will at least sorta match the shingles on the roof.

When I look around, it seems that I've noticed many "low pitch" roofs that don't have "rubberized" roofs. And I've yet to actually see a low pitch roof w/ rubber. I'm hesitant on putting a pitch black roof on top since the roof is visible. So i'm leaning towards the polyglass product, but was wondering has anyone had any experience w/ polyglass? How about Low Pitch roofs? Is there another solution that I've missed?

The quotes have been all over from less than 2000 to 4500.

The roof area is about 22' x 12'.

Thanks in advanced!

ben

[birdman]

I had the same problem and went with the 'inner tube' approach and put the rubber stuff on and am very happy with the results. This stuff has a long and excellent track record in commercial use. It is not the prettiest looking roof [shingles are not attractive either after a few years] but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and no leaks are beautiful to me.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

The Rubberized roofing is the best , but in my words it must be Brier Roofing material. Brier Makes Black untextured and textured [ colored ] roll roofing stuff. They have a 20 years warranty on it and if it fails or leaks but must be installed correctly. they come and fix it material and labor for nothing. These repair do include hail damage.

TURTLE

[Roger Taylor]

If the leak is where the two pitches meet, reroofing the lower roof may not help at all, unless the structure and covering of the junction are addressed/ The roofer is in the same position as asking a car dealer whether you need a new car. Of course you do! If your low pitch roof is shingled, that could be the prob. A pitch of 2-3 needs at least a three ply hot tar mineral felt application, as shingles will leak. I would wait till it gets really dry outside, then carefully sweep and inspect the joint between the roofs. Tiny cracks can admit water when it is backed up by a snowmass. You may just need to sparingly trowel on Henry's plastic roofing patch compound, or similar cold roof patch. In winter, get up there and sweep off the snow when it gets backed up, then reroof only as a last resort. Such junctions almost always leak, and they are a real downside of low pitch additions.

[bclee05]

Could not find "Brier Roofing" on the net. Is it spelled right?

As for sweeping snow off the roof. Well, call me lazy, but I'd rather not and seeing how I may be selling the house in a year or two, it would be hard to sell the house w/ the disclosure that one has to sweep the snow off the roof every time it snows. Mind you I don't see much ice damning per se, but ice does form and I guess some of it is getting under the shingles and through any ice water shield there is.

thanks for everyones comments. I will likely go with option 3. And hopefully get the best of both worlds.

TURTLE wrote:

polyglass

polyglass?

[Backlash]

Has anyone here tried any torched-down modified bitumen on a home roof? We had it installed on our low slope industrial roof, and I love this stuff! Especially since I'm in charge of the maintenance.

RJ

[No]

Yes - I had it installed on a low slope roof on my last house (Shed dormer out the back of a cape cod style house. I was so impressed that I installed it on a cottage I own and did it myself for two other cottages. It is available with granules so it looks like regular rolled roofing except it is good for low slopes.

I'm not sure this will completely address the original posters issue though. Most likely the problem is at the intersection of the regular roof and the low slope. Anther poster pointed that out as well.