Roof Leaking Through Flat part

[SFLman]

I have water dripping into my living room, and the ceiling is dark from moisture in two places.








Directly above the leak the roof is flat.




I'm looking for a temporary fix. Putting on a new roof is not financially possible right now. I need advice on what to do in the very short term, like, should I put a tarp over this area right now? Rain is predicted in my area tomorrow.

Here are some pictures of the other parts of the roof. The pictures below were taken in 2020. I looked at having the entire roof repaired back then because the roof was new in 1999.







I posted a thread on this website and got some advice about different types of roofs to consider.

OLD THREAD ON ROOF STYLES

If you think I just need to get a loan and put on a whole new roof, let me know that you think that.

 

[oldognewtrick]

As far as a temporary fix, see if you can find the point if origin. Get a gallon bucket of wet/dry roof cement, a small trowel, a pair of gloves and coat the hole/holes. Where you think the most likely leak is, step gently in that spot and look for bubbles.

Tarping will have little effect to stop the water coming in. You'll have to tuck up under the shingles on all roof slopes. The tarp will be expensive.

Sadly, the roofs at a point where replacements the best choice of action. I'd reccomed installing a TPO single ply membrane.

 

[oldognewtrick]

Also, look for any nail pops and separations at the seams. And remember, if you get a drop of roof cement on your toes it's only a matter if seconds and it will be everywhere.

 

[Guzzle]

Yes, caulk & tar the roof area directly above your ceiling discoloration. During rain, during this month, this seems to be the consistently lowest point of the roof.

For other low areas stretch a line in different directions across the roof, but you may end up recoating the whole roof. Do some reconnaissance.
Is your labor & risk worth $10/hr to you? $20?

& search on "repair/replace decision".
Knowing flat roof max/min/average lifetimes would help.

If you get a loan for the repair, any Excel version will say how much you should pay in interest. Almost certainly the lender will pad the final amount by a few percent, just enough to claim a "computer error." And if you catch one "error", they'll be another, think Whack-a-Mole."

 

[SFLman]

Thanks for the replies. An honest seeming guy gave me a quote on sealing the entire flat area of the roof. It was just under $5,000. He really surprised me by encouraging me to just do the work myself since I'm physically able.

The problem though, is that he said that if a sealant has previously been applied to the problem area, and this has failed, another type of sealant, or even more of the same brand will fail. If anyone disagrees with this theory, let me know. This guy says his company seals the tops of some of the big box stores down here.

I did not tell him this, but I did apply sealant in this area about two years ago. Water was dripping down onto my range through the range hood vent. I thought water was leaking into the roof somewhere and going sideways, so I started around the little roof vent on the roof and applied four or five buckets of sealant teen or fifteen feet here an there. After quite a few months messing with the project, I finally figured out that if it rained and the wind was in just the right direction, that's when water would bounce off the roof and go up into the mouth of the little range hood vent on the roof.




The mouth of the range hood vent on the roof is literally about 7 inches up from the surface of the roof.

Anyhow, this "repair" I did, for a problem that didn't exist, may have created some uneven spots, because I didn't understand that it's really bad if there is any pooling on a flat roof. All of the sealant I laid down, four or five 5 gallon buckets, changed the evenness of the roof.

It is seeming to me like as if I need to get an entirely new roof.

If anyone has a different view, I'm all ears.

 

[oldognewtrick]

A new roof would be optimal. Stripping the old, repairing any decking that's bad and make sure there's positive slope to the gutter. You can continue patching, coating, but your throwing good money after bad. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Guzzle]

Will you be moving soon?
Half move after 7 years & almost everyone by 14 years.
If you invest in a new roof or keep spending time & labor, this is your "investment horizon".

My Velux skylights self-installed in 1994 occasionally leak since 2002 with wind-driven rain. I have roof anchors, a body harness, ropes, chains, clips, etc., & a lot of caulking.

 

[BuzzLOL]

Is the roof actually flat or have some slope to it?
20 years is getting old for the entire roof including shingled part... will need to inspect and see what condition the whole thing is in...
Is that asphalt rolled roofing on the flat part or rubber roofing?
The old rolled roofing was only good for about 2 years on a flat roof... rubber lasts much longer...
The flat roofs on most of the big box stores have leaks on rainy days and buckets put under them... flat roofs are a pain...
$5,000 sounds really high to just patch, recoat, or even replace just the flat area...
I'd check with specialized recoating companies for prices if not doing it myself...
There are economical recoating products used on mobile home roofs...

 

[SFLman]

Thanks for all comments, I will be re-reading in the next few days I"m sure. This forum is always a great starting point for me for bigger projects. I generally start saying, "I should definitely hire this out, right??"

I have watched a few youtube videos, and decided to take a crack at fixing this myself.



Rain is predicted today 60% chance, the next 5 days no rains predicted.

From my previous roof work - trying to fix that "leak" with the range hood vent, I have two 1 gallon cans of the Henry wet patch shown in the video. I have stored it in the house not the garage so I think it is still good.

I will go by HD and get some:

4 in. x 50 ft. Fiberglass Patching Weave Roll Flashing for Crack Repair Reinforcement

And anther product I may obtain somehow:

TRI-BUILT Quick Dry Asphalt Spray Primer 17 Oz. Aerosol Can

I will probably end up using a leaf blower and possibly, very, very cautiously, a power washer in the areas where I am going to put the roof cement. Some on youtube suggesting using some soap and definitely not a power washer, so that's something I need to mull over.

I got the idea to try and do some measuring inside the house and on the roof to try to locate the point of intrusion. Measuring was difficult to do, but the brown line where water was dripping down on my living room ceiling appears to be very close to a seam 6 feet from the gutter on the roof. The other dark spots in the living room don't line up closely to any seam.

There is a product, it is probably just normal cement, but it is marketed specifically for leveling a flat celling. I may buy it and try to reduce the pooling. I possibly is not compatible with my roof, I would need to call the company and ask. But someone on youtube used it on a regular roof that looks like mine.

Roofslope

If I can just get 6 or 12 moths out of the patch I can arrange the money for an entirely new roof in that time frame. That's my goal.

 

[billshack]

You should have gravel on top of the tar roof to protect it from suv rays .

 

[oldognewtrick]

When you get to the point of roofing, I strongly recommend installing a TPO membrane instead of rubber(EPDM). Rubber roofs have no warranty on residential structures. All seams are mechanical(gluded). A TPO membrane is heat welded at the seams. A white or gray membrane has better heat reflectivity than black rubber and yes there are mfg that warranty their products on residential installation. Making sure of positive pitch is critical to any materials life span that you may choose.

 

[BuzzLOL]

I got the idea to try and do some measuring inside the house and on the roof to try to locate the point of intrusion. Measuring was difficult to do, but the brown line where water was dripping down on my living room ceiling appears to be very close to a seam 6 feet from the gutter on the roof. The other dark spots in the living room don't line up closely to any seam.

Where water is entering the roofing and where it is dripping from the ceiling may be two different things as water may be running across roofing plywood under the roofing and dripping through gaps between sheets of plywood and then running across sheets of drywall and dripping through gaps between sheets of drywall... I assume there is no attic space to get into and look around...

 

[SFLman]

There isn't any attic space. If I thought I could locate the problem by chipping out the ceiling drywall I would do it. I've repaired drywall in the past, never 100% bit I'm OK with how those repairs have turned out.

I don't know how many layers of materials there are between me and the leak. Any idea?

 

[SFLman]

Just by chance I got a little more information on my problem. It rained overnight, not heavily, and I did not get a leak into the living room or create more wet spots on the living room ceiling.



In the picture near the big puddle is a magnifying glass and a syringe I used for sucking up water out of some of the more suspicious looking crevices. I wish I could say I found the hole or holes, but I could not. I gently poked around with a dental tool at the seams.

I'm starting to doubt the wisdom of trying to alter the slope to stop the pooling. I might shift the water around and create other leaks or even somehow create another leak another way. I also don't know if this concrete can be walked on or not. On the other hand, any patch I lay down on the seams will contribute to the pooling. On the other other-hand I know I need a new roof and I'm just looking tog get 6 months or so out of this fix.

It may or may not help with this project, but I decided to buy a DEPSTECH Dual Lens Industrial Endoscope. While looking into this roofing problem I saw someone using one of these to help assess their issue. What the hey. Another gizmo.

 

[SFLman]

I feel very lucky. I put down a few lines of Henry Wet Patch, reinforced with fiberglass, and it worked. I've had several hard rains and I somehow fixed this problem.




I bought 75 feet of the fiber glass reinforcement, and I ran out. I got all sacked up to go to HD to buy more and then I realized.... isn't it Christmas Day??

I'm really glad I bought the Depstech. I got the model DS 300 with two lenses and the digital screen connected. A real pro would want a setup which works with their cell phone, but I'm happy with what I got. I've already used it for other projects.

This photo shows some damage, I'm guessing this is right below where the water was intruding. I drilled a hole and ran the camera up. I would expect this board will have to come up when the roof is re-done in the next year or so.



There is still the issue of pooling here and there, I'm considering laying down a 1/8 inch thick layer of Henry's to try and improve the slope.

 

[nobes]

I have water dripping into my living room, and the ceiling is dark from moisture in two places.

View attachment 27200 View attachment 27201




View attachment 27202

Directly above the leak the roof is flat.

View attachment 27203 View attachment 27204


I'm looking for a temporary fix. Putting on a new roof is not financially possible right now. I need advice on what to do in the very short term, like, should I put a tarp over this area right now? Rain is predicted in my area tomorrow.

Here are some pictures of the other parts of the roof. The pictures below were taken in 2020. I looked at having the entire roof repaired back then because the roof was new in 1999.


View attachment 27205

View attachment 27206


I posted a thread on this website roofing falls church and got some advice about different types of roofs to consider.

OLD THREAD ON ROOF STYLES

If you think I just need to get a loan and put on a whole new roof, let me know that you think that.

I can see creosote on the chimney and cap. It definitely needs to be cleaned but it's not horrendous. Is the staining being caused by creosote or just the rust of the cap and pipe? I’ve never seen a stain like this without the cap or pipe being HEAVILY rusted. The cap and pipe haven’t recently replaced. Is this amount of staining a problem? I’d love your thoughts