Hi, I have a roof which refuses to stop leaking. We had it completely redone (removed asphalt shingles, repair rotted or bad boards, and re-shingled) about 5 years ago. Most of the problems went away, but one spot continues to leak.

The roofer has been out a few times and chaulked/sealed around the chimmney, and other spots, but it refues to stop leaking.

I don't have a steep roof, and the spot that leaks, when you look at it from outside the house, has a slight dip to it. So, my guess is that water is traveling back up the shingles and coming in due to the dip in the roof. Does that make sense?

Also, what is the solution to fixing this dip, if that is the problem? Can it be pushed up and resupported so the dip disappears? Or is there a better recommendation? I look to the pro's to help me out here. Thanks.

I had the same problem. Living inthe Pacific NW- we get a LOT of rain and I have a fairly flat slope tomy roof.
The last repair the roofers used 30 lb paper instead of the standard 15, I converted to a single asphalt shingle instead of the three tab ( less areas for runoff to blow in sideways) and that did the trick all over except one bad spot. In this area I paid for a" waterproof" specialty liner to go under the 30lb felt andfinally have no further problems.
Talk with a roofer, they can maybe tell you what the "waterproof" liner is but I'm a believer.
Lisa

Lisa, Thank you for your help.

quote:

Originally posted by ldozy1:
I had the same problem. Living inthe Pacific NW- we get a LOT of rain and I have a fairly flat slope tomy roof.
The last repair the roofers used 30 lb paper instead of the standard 15, I converted to a single asphalt shingle instead of the three tab ( less areas for runoff to blow in sideways) and that did the trick all over except one bad spot. In this area I paid for a" waterproof" specialty liner to go under the 30lb felt andfinally have no further problems.
Talk with a roofer, they can maybe tell you what the "waterproof" liner is but I'm a believer.
Lisa

my neighbor is a commercial roofer and he swears by Duralast as the waterproof membrane - ask your roofer

Looking for a leek can sometimes be like looking for the proverbial "needle in a haystack" but in my experience 9 out of 10 times it boils down to a flashing issue or a vally,(to two most problematic areas on a shingled roof) . I swear by ice and water shield, a stick down rubber like membrane. Code dictates a minimum of one course (3') but I prefer to go 2-3 courses instead of 15#felt paper. As far as the dip, the roofer should have delt with that on the re-roof, it's probably a broken roof board (sheeting) or bad rafter, it could possibly be remidied from in the attic , but on a low pitch roof it could be very difficult to access!,
I don't know that this helps at all, best of luck looking for and eliminating the "needle"
DP

Hi Dave, Thanks. This does help, I appreciate the time and information! K

Dabbler - An old roofing adage is that leaks are not hard to fix they are hard to find - Dave is right about roofs leaking around flashings or penetrations, valleys... very rairly does a roof leak in the field - for low slope roofs (pitch 4/12 or less) ALL roofing manufacturers require that you double the felt and lower the exposure from a 5" exposure to a 4" exposure - you are right about the wind pushing water up a slope.. if you have ever seen a water/wind test , a 40mph wind can blow water 1" up a vertical in addition a 15lb felt has not been run through an asphalt saturator and will not hold water in a rain storm, for this reason 30lb felt is always better and good cheap insurance. The dip in your roof is caused from a bad or bowed rafter and should have been addressed when the roof was torn off, it is not really a concern unless the rafter is broken, not pleasing to the eye however not a condition to reroof - condensation of water vapor along the underside of the roofing assembly (i.e. roof decking) is also a concern - soffit vents along with either ridge vents or roof vents are a must, the venting system works as a system, what I mean is if you have only soffit vents and not roof vents the system does'nt work, you need both to effectively vent your roofing system. Any time you have a roof under a 3/12 slope you should always consider a flat roofing system which is what Durolast is, a white single ply modified PVC/CPE (chlorinated polyethelyne), heat welded roofing system - there are a number of single plys available on the market any of which would serve to protect you home adequately.

Hi TC, Thanks for the complete response, very helpful. K

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