roof repair suggestions

For the last few months, during heavier rain, there is a small leak in my roof. The leak is in my utility room, attached to the house, and directly visible since there is no attic in the way. It was a mystery to me where it started until I was able to narrow it down today. I was able to take some pictures:

formatting link

formatting link

formatting link

Image '68 shows the general area on the roof where the water is getting in. I verified this today with the hose turned on and placed over the area. I was unable to spot anything obvious on the roof from the outside.

Images 69 and 70 are from inside. You can see the water stains in 69 and the close up shows what appears to be a tare between the roofing boards that is allowing the water to drip through. The leakage is very slow, perhaps one drop an hour with rain, but of course the hose over top accelerated this. The question is: how do I repair this. I'm guessing to coat the topside over this area with roofing cement, but not sure. I don't know exactly on topside where this perforation lies, so maybe some suggestions for that.

Thanks, in advance, for any help.

Al

Reply to
Al roarke
Loading thread data ...

Note that the actual "perforation" (point of infiltration) is probably uphill from there. E.g., water may be getting *under* a shingle and traveling along the topside of the roofing board (i.e., on the underside of the lowest layer of shingle) before reaching this "opportunity" to pass between the roof boards. It is unlikely that the "perforation" is exactly in line with this "drip"!

E.g., you may have a nail pop or other really slow leak that can't readily get into the attic space directly so has to resort to subtly wandering around looking for this opportunity! As the roof may have a "side to side" pitch (locally), you can't be sure that the failure is directly above the ppoint where the water is dripping (it's probably being coerced to follow the EDGES of any shingles it encounters along the way.

Can you feel (from the inside of the roof) a difference in "moisture content" between the board(s) above the drip and below? Don't be faked out by temperature changes...

If you have a spotter (or a remote camera) so *you* can be outside with the hose (a more skilled action than "watching for drips" on the inside), carefully direct the hose to specific areas (and for a fair amount of time so any water can makes its SLOW progress along whatever circuitous route it requires).

Note, in particular, whether your hose is letting water creep

*up* under courses of shingles. Gently lift shingles to examine nail heads to see if any are lifted. Or, if you can see any tears in the asphalt.

That will depend on the actual failure you discover. If it's just a nail pop, you can slop some adhesive under the shingle or nail head and sink a new nail. If, OTOH, the house has "moved" and torn some underlying shingle course, you'll want to replace that.

It's easy work -- just not particularly "fun". Esp if you have to worry about weather. Don't fall for the temptation of just slathering adhesive/felt all over the place and "hoping" you've caught the problem "by accident". You'll be forever worrying if the next storm will leave you with a mess -- or, with a DIFFERENT mess!

[Note if it is getting cold in your location, keep in mind that the shingles will be more brittle -- less tolerant of your walking on them haphazzardly]

Start with a tape rule and some "landmark" (chimney?) and CAREFUL measurements to get yourself in the ballpark.

[And, by coincidence, it's raining, here, yet again! Cripes, when will Monsoon end??]
Reply to
Don Y

I think it is though. When I had the water running on there today, it was right over the top of where the drips were occurring, not higher up the roof.

Tonight, I took a flashlight and shined it directly onto the area where the leak was coming through. I then went topside and,from the ladder, tried to see if the light was coming through anywhere. Turns out that if I slightly lifted on shingle, I could see the light and this was right over where the leaks are occurring. Based on this, I feel reasonably confident that the leak is directly underneath the same area topside. Now that I know the exact spot, I picked up both some roofing caulk, that needs applied with a caulking gun, and some rubber coating spray. Not sure which I'm going to use. The spray would be more convenient, but would it hold up as well as the roofing caulk?

Al

Reply to
Al roarke

I always use plain old black roofing tar/cement. But it has always been where it would not show. Don't know which of your products would hold up best, so can't make any recommendations.

Reply to
hrhofmann

how old is the roof? what part of the country are you in? how long were the shingles guaranteed for.......

is there tar paper under the shingles??

all of these basic questions are important...

if the roof is near end of life, theres no use putting a lot of time money and effort in a roof that ultimately needs replaced soon..........

Reply to
bob haller

A piece of galvanized sheet metal or metal fascia with some sealer on the upper edge slides between the shingles easily and will hold up a long time.

Reply to
Mr.E

Something isn't right there. There should be underlayment, then the shingles. Even with shingles, if they are properly staggered and none are broken/missing, I don't see how you would see light by just lifting up a shingle. I'd also look at alignment, ie where the edges are. If they laid a row down where they didn't start it right, you could have edges too near edges from the rows before or after. Where they meet should be offset by about 3" from the course above and below. Basic process is to carefully lift them up and look around until you can identify what's wrong.

Based on this, I feel

I would identify the exact problem before applying any fixes.

Reply to
trader_4

10 years old; I am in Eastern PA, about 10 mi N of Philadelphia. No guarantees as I wasn't here when they were put on, although I did sort of know of the roofer.

Yes.

I understand. Overall, I haven't been happy with this roof. I inherited this house from my parents and the roof before this one was put on by my brother and father. It lasted 30 years, but it was an additional layer on top of the original. Then, 10 years ago, my father was too old and sickly to pull of the existing layers and place a new one, so he hired someone by word of mouth. I think that was a mistake. Within two years, I remember seeing a portion of the lower roof peeled back from the wind. This was a "rubberized" section the roofer installed, claiming it was better than shingles in that area. We have a garage attached to the residence that was also "rubberized" and it started leaking within 5 years and I have to coat it yearly with roofing asphalt to stop the leaking. If I am the one to ever have to replace the roof, I guarantee that I will find a roofer with a guarantee after going through the problems I "inherited".

My brother is now gone too, and I know almost nothing about roofs, but I am a quick learner.

With the hose up there, I was able to identify the exact spot where water was leaking through. As others have said, it may be higher up, I don't know, but for now, I sealed around and under the area with roofing caulk. The problem is that the temps here haven't been the warmest and it's still not solid yet today even though I applied early yesterday. The instructions said it could be applied down to 32 F. It hasn't been

32, but down to 40 at night with daytime highs in the low 60's.

while I was applying the caulk, I noticed a roofing nail a little higher from where I was. Since it's the only one I see, I'm guessing that roofing nails should not normally be visible? Perhaps the source of the leak, but I only saw it after the fact.

Reply to
Al roarke

If you saw a nail head above a shingle, you can be pretty sure that that is where your leak is.

It is not uncommon for a "nail pop" to wear through the shingle that is supposed to be covering the nail. That hole in the shingle will let water through and the water will follow the nail until it is under the shingle. From there it will enter the house at the next lower spot that it finds an opening.

You need to go back on the roof, remove the old nail and apply roofing tar under the shingle to seal the hole. Use enough tar so that it oozes up through the hole in the top shingle and seals it. Don't bother banging the nail back down, it will just pop up again.

I had a number of nail pops in my old roof and I kept it working for a few years by sealing the holes as described above, but eventually I had the house re-roofed. When that was done, it was done properly, with an ice barrier, full soffit vents and a roof vent. I also had new gutters installed and then added foam rafter baffles so that the soffit vents could do their job.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Agree, but I believe the stagger on designer/architectural shingles are supposed to be 6" from each other. Especially on low pitched roofs.

Reply to
Earl

It is better. It's a waterproof barrier to prevent water from ice damming getting inside. It's required by code from the edge up the roof 2 ft past wall where interior heated space begins.

If the roofer used the real product, no way it's the source of that problem. It's rubberized and sticky on one side. No way it's going to lift. And clearly that can't be the problem, if they had just used felt instead, that isn't held down at all and has zero to do with the shingles lifting. Sounds like incorrect nailing. Did they use staples instead of nails? I saw a new condo development where after a noreaster, the whole place had huge sections of missing shingles. That place used staples. Similar complex across the street used nails and it's roofs had very little damage.

We have a

I thought you identified the exact spot with a hose? Just start out lower and slowly move the hose up every 15 mins or so.

I

Probably won't work and might even make it worse.

That's for sure. Next question is why is it there? Possible someone previously tried to fix the leak and didn't know what they were doing?

Reply to
trader_4

See my previous post. The nail head from a nail pop will often tear a hole in the shingle that was covering it. It used to happen on my house before I had the roof replaced.

As you know, a hole above where the leak appears in the attic is extremely common. The description of this issue fits the nail pop situation perfectly. It could be something different, but it has all the earmarks of a nail pop.

The second picture at this site shows exactly what I use to experience.

formatting link

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Just an update and looking for more suggestions, my generous application of "Wet or Dry" roofing asphalt around the problem area still hasn't solved the leak! If I take a coffee cup full of water and pour over the asphalt, the leak still appears in the utility room. Any more ideas would be welcome. I would have thought that the asphalt would have solved it, but not!

Reply to
Al roarke

Generally speaking, applying roofing cement is not the right way to fix a problem with a shingle roof. As I pointed out previously, you had said that with a flashlight shining in the attic, you could slightly lift a shingle and see light. That isn't right. There should be felt underlayment, then staggered shingles. I don't see how you would ever be able to see light by just lifting a shingle. Focus on what is actually wrong, not on applying cement. Those shingles look like they are in very good shape. You fix this by finding the cause and then possibly replacing a shingle. Did you take a look at how the edges stagger? Possible they laid one course where the edges aren't offset several inches from the previous course?

Reply to
trader_4

Having second thoughts, I ran up there and carefully removed the cement I applied less than two hours ago. Luckily, still easily removed. I then used the method in this video after carefully lifting the shingles:

formatting link

Being only 55 F here, I wasn't able to lift them up nearly as far as in the video, but enough that I was able to place the cement underneath. I then pressed them down as hard as I could so the cement would spread. In the video, he says to coat any cement that pushes out from under with granules. Although I tried to carefully remove any of that cement, there is still some remaining in spots. I don't have the granules, but could get some. Are they a necessity? The good news is that I threw a couple of buckets of water on the area and no more leaks so, I hope, problem solved.

>
Reply to
Al roarke

You continue to ignore the advice offered, so what's the point? Do as you please.

Reply to
trader_4

Somehow, I knew you were going to say that and it's unfortunate because you and others seem to know your roofing here. It's also unfortunate that I am in a pinch for funds at the moment plus a big cold front coming, plus more heavy rain on the way. As I said before, I don't know shingles or what to look for. Googling is nice, but sadly the pictures and often the descriptions offered are unclear. To try and get someone to do this simple repair, at least where I live, would have cost $$ even if you could get them (most roofers don't want bothered here unless you have them put on an entire new roof). I hope you understand and, at this point, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that what I did will hold up at least until warmer weather. There's a gazillion videos out there on roofing and repair and how's the layman to know which one is correct? The reason I asked about the granules is because I can only get 5 lb buckets which run $25 and the closest store that even has such stuff to me is 35 mi away, so I didn't want to make the trip unless necessary. If you are refusing to answer from hereon, so be it, and I bid you farewell and have a nice day. Others hopefully will chime in.

Al

>
Reply to
Al roarke

Why is smearing asphalt cement around on a shingled roof an acceptable cost option, but figuring out what's really wrong, maybe replacing a couple of shingles isn't?

Then it's time to call a pro. I gave you some ideas of what to look for. ZERO evidence you even looked.

Googling is nice, but sadly the pictures

I find that hard to believe.

Like I said, I told you what the right approach is, but feel free to do as you please.

There you go. Asking about $25 buckets of granules, but ignoring the sound advice about the actual problem.

Reply to
trader_4

+1
Reply to
Tony Hwang

Al roarke posted for all of us...

Look in the gutters, there may be enough there, especially after you get done mucking around.

Reply to
Tekkie®

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.