How To Locate And Repair A Roof Leak - Clifton VA

 

Hi, this is Steve, I'm Roofer 911.

I'm on a roof in Clifton, Virginia, that has a leak found near the bottom of the corner post. The first thing I noticed when I came up on the roof is all the leaves and dirt caked up in the valley. All this debris is causing the water to dam up, so when there's a heavy downpour the water cannot flow down the valley, so it backs up underneath the shingles. Then the water will travel underneath the roof, and settle at the lowest point, and that's right at the corner.

What we'll do is remove all this debris, remove all the roofing material at both sides of the valley. We'll install ice and water shield from the bottom all the way up to the top, and then we'll reshingle the valley, and install a single-cut, closed-type valley, and make sure that we nail at least 10 inches away from the valley center line.

Another thing is this old storm window will also cause this roof to leak, as well, but only during a wind driven rain. The water can get right inside here, and the water will travel right through the sides of the screws that's holding the window in place. The water will go behind the siding, and again, it will settle at the lowest point. This is really simple to fix. We're going to seal the outside perimeter with polyurethane.

Another thing is where the roof and the wall meet, there's nails exposed in the step flashing, so we need to remove all the roofing material where the roof and the wall meet. Repair, replace any flashing, and then reshingle it. Same thing over here. There's nails in the step flashing there.

Another thing is this upper gutter is directly above where the leak is down below. The gutter here is sagging in the middle. When there's a heavy downpour, or a melting snow, that water cannot go uphill quick enough to where the drain is, so the water not only overflows over the front, but it goes over the back. Then it goes behind the wall, and it will settle, again, at the lowest point. This gutter needs to be repitched.

Another thing is this vent, this 750 vent. The contractor who installed it, he put a wire mesh around it. They probably had problems with squirrels or raccoons in the past, so they put this screening. He also nailed it to the roof. We need to remove all the roofing around this vent. We're going to replace it with a new one, and then we'll install an ice and water shield around it, and then reshingle it.

Another thing is right up here. I don't know if you can see it. It's right up there at the top, right there, you see that split shingle, see right there. What'll happen is if there's a heavy downpour the water can get in through that cracked shingle. Water will travel down behind the siding, and then underneath the roof, and then again, it could settle at the lowest point.

With this leak there's so many sources, and we need to fix each and every one, because if we don't we'll be back.

Here's another thing. With the vinyl siding it's not overlapped enough. This one is only overlapping this one by about a quarter of an inch, and there's a few others up above that have the same problem. What we'll do is pull back the vinyl siding, insert polyurethane inside, and then press it right into the sealant.

Again, here's where the leak is, and also here's a damaged shingle here. It's not really that bad, but it needs to be replaced. Also, here there's a nail pop, and then also there's a nail pop there, and that's directly above where they had the leak inside. Any damaged shingles, nail pops, they're going to be removed and replaced.

Another thing, very important, Architectural shingles are very good, but they're only as good as the contractor who installs them. What I mean by that is the roofers used roofing nail guns. With a nail gun, if it's put in the wrong hands it can cause a problem. This nail is popping up, because the air pressure was not set correctly, it was too low.

Another thing is here where the shingles join together. We need to lift all the shingles above this valley to see if there's any nails exposed at the keys, and if there is we're going to seal the nail flasher, and reseal it again.

Here's another thing that can cause the leak. You've got all these exposed nails at the cap. We're going to take off these cap shingles and replace them with new. With this leak, like I said, there's multiple sources, and we need to fix each and every one of them.

Again, my name is Steve, I'm Roofer 911, and we specialize in roof repair in Clifton, Dulles, and all areas of Northern Virginia. I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.
 

How To Locate And Repair A Roof Leak - Clifton VA first appeared on www.roofer911.com