Roof Repair

Common roof repairs

Most roofs do not need to be replaced the first time they leak. Wind lifts or tears off a few shingles. A rubber boot around a plumbing vent cracks in the sun and lets water run down the pipe. Flashing at a chimney, a wall or a skylight pulls loose or was never sealed properly. Nails work their way up and punch through the shingle above them. Each of these can usually be fixed in a single visit for a fraction of the cost of a new roof, as long as the roof around it still has life left.

Finding the leak

Water rarely comes through the ceiling right below the spot where it gets in. It runs along the underside of the roof boards, follows a rafter or a pipe and drips wherever it finds a low point. That is why a stain in the middle of a bedroom ceiling may start at a vent several feet uphill. We check the attic first when we can, trace the water marks back to where they begin and then look at the roof above that spot. When a leak only shows up in certain storms, we may run water over one section at a time to find it.

Check these first

A few checks are safe to do yourself before you book a visit, and none of them involve a ladder.

• Look at the roof from the ground or a window, with binoculars if you have them, for missing or lifted shingles.
• With a flashlight, look in the attic for wet insulation, dark stains on the boards or daylight around pipes.
• Check whether the stain appears only after snow. That often points to an ice dam rather than a hole in the roof.
• Note when it leaks: every rain, only wind-driven rain, or only after snow melts. It helps us find the cause faster.

Flashing, vents and the places that leak most

Flat stretches of shingles rarely leak on their own. The trouble spots are where the roof meets something else: chimneys, walls, skylights, valleys where two slopes meet, and every pipe and vent that comes through. Those spots depend on flashing and sealant, and sealant dries out quickly in high-altitude sun. A good repair replaces the failed flashing or boot properly instead of covering it with another layer of caulk.

Repair or replace

If the roof is fairly young and the damage is in one area, a repair makes sense. If the shingles are brittle, the granules are worn off across the roof or leaks keep turning up in new places, money spent on repairs may be better put toward a replacement. We tell you which we think it is, with photos, and price the repair either way so you can decide.