Roof leak repair can be challenging if the source of leakage is ambiguous or multiple. But the repairing of the roof is inevitable because more you delay it the more it will cost you money. Just like the eventful days of Christmas are coming, the surety of unscathed and intact roof becomes more essential.
Here, some of the possible sources of roof leakage and DIY tips to repair them are going to be given to assist you in winding-up the source of toil in your sweet home. Bigger issues may need professional assistance to be catered as it will take more time and money. Experts like roofer are doing an awesome job in united kingdom. They are able to fix all roofing problems.
Possible Sources of Roof leak
- Exposed Flashing Of Chimneys And Dormers
- Damaged Roof Boots
- Valleys
- Ice build up
- Dry rot
- Clogged Gutters
- Leaking skylights, vents etc.
- Damaged Shingles
- Missing or damaged Ridge Cap
- Improper installation of roof membranes, vents or flashing.
Roof Leak Repair Tips
Resealing Chimneys and Dormers
The flashing that are covering your chimneys or dormers may become exposed with the wear and tear of time. Water may enter through the gap. They need to be resealed in order to stop the water from tripping into your house.
It is quiet an effortless task, take a caulking gun and refill the joints with roof cement. If there are any exposed nails in the flashing, cover them too to safe any other possible future leakage.
Replacing Damaged Roof Boots
When locating the source of leakage in the roof people often miss the roof boots. Usually rubber boots are used in roofs and they dry up with time causing major roof leaks without us even knowing it.
Replacement of roof boots is a quick task, just buy a new boot and fix it at the place of the old, leaking one.
Inspecting Valleys
A valley is where two roofs intersect each other.it is also called ridge. When it precipitates all the water moves towards the valley eventually and then it starts to slosh there slowly. This causes the valley to leak.
So make sure you don’t let the water make a stand-still over the valleys of your roofs.
Preventing the Ice Build Up
In winters, the ice build-ups under the roof membranes are not so impossible. The ice accumulation reaches the wall lines where the house is heated and it causes dripping in your house.
You can address this problem efficiently by installing drip edges, proper ventilation and by placing rain and ice shields.
Prevention of Dry Rot
You must be surprised to read dry rot here in the reason of roof leakage. Don’t be so! Dry Rot on your roof does not cause leakage itself but it becomes the indirect reason of leakage of roof. Dry rot causes lack of ventilation which causes the roof to sag in and leakage will start in the end.
To avoid dry rot you will need to install a ridge vent and a soffit vent.it will rotate hot and cool air properly and will keep your roof well ventilated.
It might sound like extra cost right now but believe us it will cost nothing as compared to the repairing cost of your leaking roof which will be a cause of discomfort and trouble too.
Cleaning Clogged Gutters
Clogged gutters are the most predictable reason of leakage in the roof of your sweet home. Clogged gutters causes rain water to stay instead of being drained and it causes leaking of roof.
So make sure your gutter is cleaned properly and there is no blockage anywhere.
Checking Skylights and Vents
Poorly sealed roof flashing around the skylights and vents can cause leakage. In order to fix it quickly you will need a caulking gun but it’s totally fine it you don’t have one; you can also use a putty knife or any ordinary spatula.
Inspect the flashings of your house’s skylights and vents and locate the poorly sealed or withered area. Then you have to take roof cement and seal the place with its generous amount and you are good to go.
Replacing Damaged Shingles
Missing, withered or curled shingles can cause leakage in your roof. The quick and easy way to solve this problem is by replacing damaged shingles.
Steps to replace shingles
- Step 1: lift the edges of the surrounding shingles to remove the damaged one. Slide out the old shingle and if there is some old cement giving a brittle look then smooth it out by scraping. It will make the placement of new shingle trouble-free.
- Step 2: Now slide the new shingle into the place. To make this task easy for you, take a sharp utility knife and make its back corners round.
- Step 3: last step, lift the corners of overlapping shingles and secure the top of new shingle by driving roof nails through each corner. And you are done.
Replacing Damaged Ridge Cap
Ridge cap is used where two roof tops meet. If the ridge cap is not placed it causes holes in the roof material and then the rain water starts to trip in the house through these holes. One other reason is if this cap is damaged or worn it can also allow the water to seep through the roof. So the quick and easy fix is to replace this cap with a new one.
Professional Roof Repair Tip That No One Will Tell You
Precautionary measures to take before you start repairing your roof because safety is first.
- Don’t climb the roof when it is wet for any reason, you may trip and cause yourself some injury.
- Always use safety ropes while working on sloppy or steep roofs.
- Don’t go alone; it’s always handy to have a buddy with you while you work to fix your roof leakage.
- Choose your footwear wisely while you go up your roof to DIY fix the leaking spot, use rubber-soled shoes because they provide best traction on the roof surface.
- Keep in mind your house’s power lines while doing the leakage fixing so you may not cause damage to them or it will cost you more than the fixing of leaking roof itself.
- Try to focus on cable tray in building for mesh wires. it should be fix and align with the roof tightly.
Synopsis
Roof leak repair is a tough task and locating the source of roof leakage is even tougher. Possible sources of roof leak are mentioned in this article also listed on Deco facts. And some super quick and handy DIY tips are also given to address those roof leakage problems. These tips will help you reduce the cost of repairing of roof and will make your house good as new.
Leave a Reply