How To Repair Roof Leak
They are the two most dreaded words in a homeowner’s vocabulary: a leaky roof. Water is the most insidious foe, eager to penetrate your home covering’s most vulnerable defenses. And once inside, the damage and destruction may be taking place far from the point of the initial attack, making the initial source of a roof leak difficult to identify.
1. Age
Roofing materials, especially asphalt shingles, get old and tired. Expansion and contraction with the change in temperatures cause aging roof protection to turn brittle and eventually crack. Years of harsh rays from direct sunlight can melt the tar that holds composition shingles together. Father Time has not lost a battle yet and when roofing materials run up against their life expectancy, it will be time to budget for a new roof at the first sign of a leak.
2. Secure curled shingles.
Curled-back shingles, for example, can be re-secured by brushing on a coating of asphalt roofing cement or finding its equivalent compound in tubes for use with a caulk gun (like Henry Rubberized Wet Patch, available in a 10.1-ounce cartridge at The Home Depot). When repairing a leaky roof, you’ll want to apply a generous amount of roofing cement to the underside of the shingle to make certain that the edge and corners are secured. Then press firmly to set.
Note: Shingles will be more pliable in warm weather than when it’s cold, so consider that factor when resolving problems.
3. Vent Boot
The vent boot is a close relative of flashing. Fabricated from rubber, it slides over the plastic vent pipes that protrude from a roof to work with flashing to waterproof the junction of roof and pipe.
Vent boots can be plastic, metal, rubber or any combination. When the gasket stops working the old boot must be pulled off, usually with the aid of a knife, and a new one installed. Like shingle work, this is a job that can be handled without a call to a contractor.
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