Why Is My Roof Leaking?

In West Michigan this usually means snowmelt and ice dams, not rain. Snow on a warm roof deck melts from underneath, runs down to the cold eave, refreezes, and backs water up under the shingles, so you get an active leak on a clear, cold day. Condensation from a poorly vented attic can also look like a leak. Both come back to the attic, and both are worth an inspection.

At penetrations and seams, not in the open field. Flashing around chimneys, skylights, and dormers, valleys, pipe boots, the eaves and gutter line, and where a lower roof meets a wall. Because water travels along the deck before it drips, the source is often several feet from the stain. And some leaks do start in the field, usually from a nail or a shingle that was wrong on day one and took years to show.

Not always, but it never stays small. Trapped moisture rots decking and framing, ruins insulation, and can grow mold within a day or two. In our freeze-thaw climate a minor summer leak reopens every winter. Fixing it early is a fraction of the cost of the water damage that follows.

You can, and there's nothing wrong with trying. Here's what you're up against. Finding a leak can be simple or it can be extraordinarily hard, and so can fixing it. There is usually more than one way to stop the water. Which one is right comes down to how much you're willing to spend, how complex a solution you want, and how much tolerance you have for the leak coming back. What we bring is several decades of doing only this, on thousands of roofs and thousands of different situations, plus several hundred thousand dollars in specialized tools and equipment that let us do it fast, do it clean, and do it with as little wasted material as possible. That last part matters more than people expect. A professional can usually do a repair in about a fifth of the time it takes a homeowner, and a lot of that is the equipment. Take a chimney reflash. To do it right and do it in a few hours, we show up with a siding brake, grinders, blowers, circular and oscillating saws, impact drivers, nail guns, ladders, pitch hoppers, pry bars, hand benders, a rivet gun, an assortment of bits, sealant guns, and the right sealants for every material we'll touch. That kit runs about $10,000, and that's one type of repair. So it comes down to what your time is worth and whether you're going to buy or rent that equipment for a job you'll do once. Two things we'd ask, if you try it. Stay off a wet or icy roof. And don't reach for household caulk or roofing tar. Caulk doesn't belong on a roof and tar is meant to go between shingle layers, not on top of them. If you do try and it doesn't hold, call us. No judgment. Half the chimneys in our gallery had been patched by someone before us.

It depends on the cause. Sudden storm damage, wind-lifted shingles or hail, is often covered. Leaks from age, wear, or deferred maintenance usually are not. Documenting the damage and getting a professional assessment before you file helps you and your carrier figure out which it is. Our inspectors are Haag Certified in wind and hail damage assessment, and we help West Michigan homeowners through storm claims regularly.

That depends on the roof's age and how far the damage has spread. An isolated flashing or shingle failure on an otherwise sound roof is a repair, and most repairs carry a 10 to 15 year warranty. Widespread leaks, a roof past 20 years, or rotted decking usually point toward replacement. A free inspection gives you an answer for your specific roof instead of a guess.