Roof leaks seldom start directly above where you find water dripping on the floor. Your roof is covered in potential leaks. Storms, trees, even squirrels can leave your roof vulnerable to leaks. Wait it gets better: leaks can lead to even scarier problems like mold and mildew. When a leak appears, the sooner you start a search, the better. Ideal Roofing’s Jim Hardwick has tips to solve your leaky mystery.
Well, if you detect a leak in your house, your first step is obviously stop any other side damage, whether it’s carpet or sheetrock. If you have attic access, you want to get into the attic and see if you can find out where it’s coming from. Look at the underlying decking. Do you see any wetness or spotting? When you do call us out there, it helps us pinpoint the area.
Top three causes would probably, we’d lump penetration, which would be plumbing pipes, HVAC, ventilation, those are all penetrations in your roof. Second would probably be flashing. Your sidewall flashings, your chimney flashing details. And third would probably your nail pops and damage to your shingles from either debris or a storm.
To make the necessary repairs on your plumbing pipes, your HVAC, you’ll want full replacement because the only other way to fix it other than that would be caulking, and that’s temporary fix. With your flashing details and problems, same thing. We’re pulling out old flashing, putting in new, and making sure it was installed properly. And then your miscellaneous, whether it’s nail pops, if it might be something you can fix yourself, if it is a one-story and not steep and you feel comfortable getting on the roof. You just want to lift the shingle up and put some caulking underneath that hole, pull the nail out and put it back down.
We also recommend the maintenance program every other year or something like that. We’re going to do a whole roof overview or a maintenance to see if we see any other problems with the roof besides what the homeowner has called us out for.
Stop leaks at the source and repair your roof with hints and help from Jim at Ideal Roofing. For HomeShowOnline.net, I’m Tom Tynan.
Podcast: Play in new window
Subscribe: RSS
