Porch Roof is Leaking

Background info:
- house was built in 1988
- roof was replaced in spring of 2014


During the recent heavy rain the roof covering my front porch has begun leaking water through the soffit. Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to remove the soffit to determine exactly where the water was coming in. My first theory was that it was leaking because there is a downspout that empties on that roof from the upper roof's gutters. I added another piece of downspout to direct the water into the porch roof's gutters, but this did not resolve the issue. Refer to attached pictures.

My current theory is that water may be leaking from where a couple of roofing nails were used to hold down the flashing. See pictures entitled "area where roofing nails hold down flashing.jpg" and "roofing nails used on flashing.jpg". I suspect that during heaving rains the downspout on the upper roof cannot drain quick enough and it overflows the trough and drips down the siding by the window. The staining on the siding suggests that water was be flowing there. The spot where the roofing nails hold down the flashing is directly under that water staining on the siding. I am going to try to recreate the problem by pouring water on those roofing nails and see if it leaks.

If my theory is correct and I can recreate the problem, then what is the best resolution? My first though is to using caulking or roof mastic.

Any other places I should check for causes of the leak?

Take a hose and start at the bottom and slowly work your way up, I see several spots that could be problems. AND, be careful on a wet roof!

I tried the hose test, but I was unable to reproduce the leak.

The contractor that installed the roof suggested that it could be the trough overflowing, but I stuck a rag in the downspout opening, which cause the trough to overflow, and still could not reproduce the leak.

Maybe I need to repeat the test for a longer duration. The leak only seems to happen during really heavy rains.

Is the soffet aluminum or vinyl.?

Soffet is Aluminum

Test from the bottom all the way to the upper gutter. You may have to run water for a longer period of time. Check the flashing, window, wall, gutter, anything that's close within 10 feet.

avg_home_owner said:

Soffet is Aluminum

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I have not had to play with aluminum and I looked for a video. So maybe someone with that experience will come along.

Water there could be coming from anywhere above. Was the the old roof removed?

Pay special attention to the highlighted areas. Even check the areas around the corner on the right hand side.

nealtw said:

I have not had to play with aluminum and I looked for a video. So maybe someone with that experience will come along.

Water there could be coming from anywhere above. Was the the old roof removed?

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The old shingles were removed when the roof was replaced.

In the first picture the down spout does not drain all the way into the gutter below.
There is no kick out at the bottom of the roof on the left.
Siding was installed to close to the shingles.
How far do the shingles overhang the lower edge of the roof?
Did they install a drip edge?
Both can cause water to get in behind the fascia and run into that soffit.

joecaption said:

In the first picture the down spout does not drain all the way into the gutter below.
There is no kick out at the bottom of the roof on the left.
Siding was installed to close to the shingles.
How far do the shingles overhang the lower edge of the roof?
Did they install a drip edge?
Both can cause water to get in behind the fascia and run into that soffit.

Click to expand...

I added that piece of downspout a couple of weeks ago to try and fix the leak, but it was unsuccessful. The shingles overhang by about an inch and they did install drip edge.

The previous roof did not have drip edge and there was no extra piece of downspout to direct the water into the trough. The porch roof only recently started leaking.

How difficult is it to install kick-out flashing at this point? Does siding need to be removed?

All good things to hear.
A properly sided and roofed house should not need any caulking.
Most roofers hate to mess with the siding to replace the old step flashing, so there going to reuse what's there.
Often times when trying to remove the nails in the flashing so they can slide the shingles out the flashing gets damaged.
That may not turn out to be the issue but it's one place I'd be checking for the leak.
And yes the shingles in that area would have to be removed to check it.

I got a chance to do another hose test today, and the source of the problem seems to be the window. Specifically the bottom of the window. See attached image. I was able to reproduce the problem by spraying the bottom of the window. I also noticed some water actually making its way to the other side of the window too on the inside of the house.

From the photo you can see some green staining on the bottom of the window trim. Those ledges actually slightly angle back towards the house and collect the water. Not sure what can be done about that. The solution that I am thinking is to apply a bead of silicone around the window where the glass and the trim meet. I assume this is the point where water is penetrating. Anyone have other suggestions?

There is wood behind the aluminum trim of the sash, it has failed, Silicone will work as a fix, changing the window for efficiency since it has aged is the solution.

Don't use silicone, use a specific outdoor caulk for windows and doors.

Is that picture taken from the inside or the outside?
Hard to tell with that reflection.
If it's outside, some things messed up, the J molding should never stick out passed the window sill.
That's a sure way to have a leak.