Fixing a leaky roof isn't usually too difficult, but finding the point where the roof is leaking can be a challenge. Water doesn't drip straight down from the hole in the roof. Instead, it rolls along the roof, drips into your attic, and then seeps into the floor. Here are some things your roofer may try when searching for a leak in your asphalt shingle roof.
Check The Attic
Your roofer might want to check the attic for holes in the roof. They may also look for wet areas that give a clue about where to start looking on top of the roof for a small hole. If there's a visible hole, that solves the problem of where the rain is entering your house, but finding a leak isn't usually so easy. After checking the attic, your roofer will start looking under shingles on the roof.
Lift And Remove Shingles
If your roofer can find where the water entered the attic, they'll start searching the roof at that point. The leak is probably higher up the slope, so they may need to check several rows of shingles. Your roofer may remove some shingles, or at least lift them up to look and feel for moisture. Moisture can be difficult to see on asphalt shingles, so it's often necessary to rely on touch when hunting for wet areas. When moisture is found, the row above is checked, and the search continues until a dry row is found. That isolates the leak to a specific section of the roof. Next, shingles are pulled up in the area where the leak is suspected. This allows the roofer to see nails that hold the shingles and underlayment in place. When rain runs over nails for a long time, the nails rust. The pattern of rusty nails shows the roofer how water flowed down the roof and helps the roofer pinpoint the area of the leak.
Fix The Leak
You might imagine a leaky roof is caused by a big hole or shingles that are missing. However, something as simple as a nail that's worked loose can allow rain to flow under the shingles and eventually lead to damage. The roofer checks that the underlayment and deck aren't ruined, because those have to be replaced if they've rotted.
If a nail is missing or loose, it is driven back in to fill the hole. The roof is checked carefully for any other holes that might be present, and other nails are checked to make sure they're in properly. Once the leak is sealed, whether by driving in nails or patching a hole, the old shingles are replaced using the original nail holes so more leaks aren't created. If damaged shingles are found, these might be patched to cover cracks, or new shingles might be put on instead.
To learn more about this process, talk to roof leak repair pros.
