How can i fix this properly?

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freddyream

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I've been researching my roof leak, and I can't find a clear answer. I've been on this forum for a while now, and this is my first post. I have got some good advice from here, I hope someone can help.

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How many leaks do you have? I would think you will need some structure work to be done and re-roof most of this. With out looking to hard we can see 8 or 10 areas of concern. Or are looking for ways to just stop a leak for now?
 
OMG ... Where can we start???

Pic #3, #5, #6 and #7 are astonishing. Perfect way to create a catch corner where water can pile up. Who designed that mess?? I would consider adding a vertical wall under the fascia to stop water infiltration and add flashing as needed. Add an additional trough to the fascia to keep all roof water away from the lower intersection on the right.

Just a start ...

WALL 1.JPG
 
Freddy, from the photos it looks like there is no quick and easy solution. I can see a lot of evidence of quick and easy fixes. There isn't one thing I can see that was installed properly from placement of vents, lack of vent, wall flashings, use of exposed roof cement, shingles on to low of a slope...

My suggestion would be to find a reputable roofing contractor who can provide you with proper materials, flashings and expertise to have a functional roof system.

The biggest thing we see in premature roof failures is not failure of roofing materials but the misapplication of the materials. Time to start over from square one on this one. Wish I had better advise.

And remember the best value in not the cheapest price.
 
Thanks for all your replies. The previous owner was the genius behind this mess. He converted the carport into a living room. I ripped out the walls right under that part of the roof and it is a complete disaster. That explains why I couldn't find anything close to compare my leak against. Nobody in their right mind would do it like that. Thanks again.
 
So likely you have rot that needs to be delt with and structure changes, are you thinking of doing the woork yourself?
 
Yes, I was going to attempt it. I really have no other choice. Got to try and keep my family safe.
 
So before we get to the garage was that a porch that was closed in? If it is how is the foundation condition on that addition? is the ceiling level on the inside? Does it have venting above insulation?
 
Sorry it took so long to reply, the carport was inclosed. It has a level concrete foundation. There is 3 whirlybird vents on the roof, and it has blanket insulation, which is in pretty good shape. Now the wall, between the carport is another story. I'll post a picture in a little bit
 
I can see the problem with garage to house wall. The garage roof looks to be not bad if you don't look at the vents and things and lack of flashing. The main house has roof pitch near 12/12 which is great and the garage has something like 6/12 which is also not bad. The problem is the other flat section that should have bean fixed when the garage was attached. I do have some suggestions for that but first I would like to know your skill set and the condition of the room below it
 
Here's a few examples of how things should have been done.
Wall to shingles details.
http://www.roofkey.com/roof-to-wall-flashing.html
Roof vent install.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...2A0C46655B2ACA02D2ABA881A74&selectedIndex=144
Notice there's no exposed nails on the lower side and the shingles cover all the metal on the sides and top of the flashing.

The OSB never should have been used as soffit material!

If that was mine I would reframe that low slope roof so it was steeper.
Get rid of those ugly turbine vents and install a ridge vent instead.
Remove any of the old rotted 1 X's and replace with PVC or wrap the metal wood with coil stock.
Plus about a dozen other items that were done wrong.
The first warning sign I would have seen if I was buying this house would have been all the roofing tar all over everything.
Done right there would have been no tar needed.
Your talking some pretty involved work here.
 
Thanks for your reply Neal. I consider my skills to be fairly handy. If I have a book, I can pretty much do anything. The room below is getting a full make over. The wall underneath that mess, is going to be ripped apart and replaced as needed,
 
The room below the low slope appears to be about 1 foot lower ceiling than the rest of the house. Like Joe said the roof over that area needs to be changed. This is done by placing inverted trusses on the roof so to give it a better angle. They can be made to fit your exact needs. In your case, if the room is being gutted and the ceiling is low, I would remove that old part of the roof add to the outside wall to bring it up to the height of the rest of the house.This would solve any problems that might be happening between that roof and the main house. The look outthat runs into the garage would be removed a and added to the new roof line and allow height for flashing against the the wall between the garage and the house.

inverted truss.jpg
 
Freddy, from the photos it looks like there is no quick and easy solution. I can see a lot of evidence of quick and easy fixes. There isn't one thing I can see that was installed properly from placement of vents, lack of vent, wall flashings, use of exposed roof cement, shingles on to low of a slope...

My suggestion would be to find a reputable roofing contractor who can provide you with proper materials, flashings and expertise to have a functional roof system.

The biggest thing we see in premature roof failures is not failure of roofing materials but the misapplication of the materials. Time to start over from square one on this one. Wish I had better advise.

And remember the best value in not the cheapest price.

I have to agree,

Not quite sure what your expertise level is on roofing, but from the looks of it, this may be a project better left to the professionals. I had similar leaks in my roof and I did a lot of research beforehand to try to see if it was a fix I could do on my own. I contacted All American Exteriors and got all my questions answered, unfortunately they were not the answers I was looking for. Called a few other places and ended up hiring them to do the job. It ended up being much more cost effective and took a fraction of the amount of time that it would have taken me by myself, which is a really nice plus given the unpredictable spring weather in Minnesota.

And as stated before: When you are shopping for a professional, do not base the service on price alone. After all, this is the roof over your head we are talking about.

Good luck!
 
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