roof is leaking

You probably should state the type of roof you have (e.g. tar and gravel, foam, membrane) as many roofers specialize in one kind or another.

We have a tar and gravel roof.

Totally flat, or slightly pitched? How old is the roof? Is it under warranty? Where are you located?

C

Join the club....

My roof is still under warranty. The roofer came by last night and did some patch work. It's still leaking...

leak up top. Tar & gravel, probably not the first, no slope. Went up and took a look and can't tell where it might be originating...could be happening anywhere and making a run for the interior. Lucas Valley. Any ideas on who's good to use for trying to isolate this thing? Not in warranty. Mail to [email protected].

Possibly, check with some neighbors for local roof repair recommendations. We tell people they are safest with Diamond Certified Contractors. Tar roof repairs are hard to complete effectively (successfully) when it's wet.

First thing to do is make sure all the roof drains are working properly, and the roof is free from leaves and debris. Clogged drains and debris on the roof slow the water and will make your roof leak worse.

Another leaking tar and gravel roof in Concord. No more roofs like this for me. I will research another type of roof to put on this summer. Does anyone have a recommdations?

I'll not go back to T&G on anything I own or control.

Foam is the only way to go or till something better comes along.

I researched and found that even the better T&G firms admitted that the "good" stuff was on the banned list. No longer do they offer warrantees over 5-7 years and any that do are suspect, IMHO. This is from two very honest roofers.

They did say that they do use a larger over lap, put more tar and spend more time mopping the seams, but that adds a lot of cost.

I'm having Dura-Foam inspect and quote on one of my commercial properties next week. Heated arguements with my dad when he had that place re-roofed with T&G. He didn't trust any of the "new fangled technologies" and had heard horror stories about foam. True as the first couple cycles of foam products were pretty bad.

Now I have to spend on either patching up or re-roof, which isn't in the budget.

I recommend foam over T&G.

My roof also is leaking...not buckets just drip, drip, here and there. I would not mind so much but it smells bad!! We are all set with Abril to get a foam roof come spring. It is a big expence but I belive in the long run it will be worth it.
Stay dry,
Margaret

Thank you for your responses. I am strongly considering foam and will start getting estimates soon from both the above vendors...........

Bought the house 6 mos ago, seller did not disclose recurring leaks through HVAC ducts on roof. Getting drips through the vents. There is evidence of repair attempts with tar patching and the vent covers are rusted (indicating a long term problem). Am researching legal recourse but in the meantime...

Does anyone have any experience with infrared leak detection?

Does anyone have experience with sealing HVAC ducts or will I need to get them replaced?

Thanks

We too, got sick and tired of running around the house all night with buckets after moving in 10+ years ago. Ours is a flat-roofed courtyard model and the T&G roof had 3 years remaining on the alleged warranty when we bought. We went in knowing that there were leaks in two areas, as that was disclosed and we could see the spots on the ceiling.

Trying to get the roofers out to live up to the warranty was tough. Even tougher was their inability to find or fix the leaks. We kept telling them (though I don't believe they understood one word of English) "please don't let those 5 big guys walk all over the roof! That will cause more leaks" which is exactly what happened. Eventually it was like having swiss cheese for a roof, so we stopped calling.

All of this happended during the worst El Nino years we had ever had in the Bay Area (somewhere around 1996-1997?) and I was traveling on business constantly, leaving poor hubby to deal with it. Fortunately, we still had the original (old) flooring and hadn't started any of our remodeling or purchased any new furniture, so there was no inside damage other than spots all over the ceiling and down some of the walls.

As soon as spring came, we had a foam roof put on and have been trouble free since then. (Oh yeh, one teeny spot opened up in the corner by the bathroom a couple of years later - but the company came out and took care of it immediately.) It also made the home much cooler in the summer - almost bearable.

Folks that are really cheap or are planning to move shortly still tend to put on T&G, but those that plan to stay for the long term eventually seem to end up with foam for both the waterprofing and the insulation properties - it reflects the sun rather than absorbing it. For us, it was $$ well spent - though it cost us a bunch of extra $$ as we have baseboard heating and had to have all the pipes removed from the roof and then put back after.

Foam roofs are supposed to be re-coated at the 5-year mark, so be sure to ask about this additional expense. From what our contractor told us, studies over their many years in business have found that one good re-coat is enough and that it should not have to be done again. So far, so good.

PS: T&G is also very heavy - weighing over a ton, so we had all of ours (many years of layers and layers) removed before re-roofing. This is a messy process as the dust will fall down into the house so be sure to cover everything with plastic. We felt it was worth it just to get that weight off of the structure.

Be prepared to get in line. From what I have heard, the good reputable companies are swamped with business right now.

Good luck - let us know how things work out.

Cathye

Likewise, I'm giving up on T&G or the rolled bitumen roof. Had a new roof put on about 5y ago and, despite a half dozen visits, it's still leaking in at least two places.

Seems likely I'll go to foam, although I'm still gathering info.

And, there's a little (please, not a lot, please) wall damage.

Looks like I'm in for
1) removing this brand new roof
2) installing something else that will, likewise, "never" leak
3) replacing all skylights - the more likely breach points
4) replacing the large, triangular, living room windows that abut the roof
5) tearing out and replacing affected drywall in the leaked rooms
6) throwing away wife's ruined, stored, wedding gown
7) throwing away multiple ruined photo albums
8) waiting until I can't stand it anymore and redoing it all...over...again...

If you have good recommendations on roof/windows/wall work in the Walnut Creek area, I'd love to stop Googling and guessing.

dmaxbiz at gmail etc com