Repairing Valley Leaks In Roofs

Follow these three preparatory steps to get ready to fix the valley leak.

Repairing valley leaks in roofs.

Once the roof valley has begun to leak you will need to cover the valley with flashing in order to prevent a repeat of the problem. Rarely will caulk or roof cement cure a leaky roof at least for very long. The right thing to do here is to pull a valley basically pull a valley apart and rebuild it. The sealants and roof pitch used can crack and chip away over time.

Check plumbing vent boots and roof vents if water is entering from that area to cause the leaking roof. In order to lay the flashing the shingles on the roof will have to be removed. Only use caulk for very small holes and when flashing isn t an option as a leak stopper. You should always attempt a mechanical leaky roof fix whenever possible.

The valley base was in excellent condition so didn t need replacing or repairing at all. Repairing a roof valley involves removing some shingles and installing a. That means replacing or repairing existing flashing instead of using any type of sealant as a leak stopper. Take measurements of your roof flashing most flashing is 14 inches wide but yours may vary.

The rubber gasket that surrounds the vent pipe could be rotted. There are occasions when a roof valley is in good condition but the cement holding the tiles in place has washed out or crumbled. Look for cracks in the base of flexible rubber flashing or broken seams in metal varieties of vent pipe flashing. And you can tar it but it s a real stop gap band aid like measure.

And if they put a second layer of shingles on they brought it up the valley but they didn t replace the valley it s probably leaking and cracking and split. In these circumstances it may be possible to just leave the existing valley base in place and replace only the cement. If your roof valley leak is an old repair gone bad consider having a professional repair the leak properly. In other cases shingles are overlapped to make a valley and water from harsh rains can find a way under the shingles.

Repairing a metal roof seam with turbo poly seal is simple and it is a do it yourself p. Sometimes an older home s roof is more prone to leaking in the roof valleys because of old repairs.