# low slope roof want stop leaking



## Slyfox (Jun 13, 2008)

Try spraying some water up at the eave while standing on the ground,
try spraying it at the gable up above the area.
If theres no water getting through while running from the top down,
I would guess its getting in at the eave,
'which they are commonly high on low slope roofs'
and running back against the minimal slope.

If thats the case you'll need to find any lose 'lifting' portions of the material along the eave and place your roof cement under first and than over top.


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## kaju (Aug 19, 2008)

Slyfox said:


> Try spraying some water up at the eave while standing on the ground,
> try spraying it at the gable up above the area.
> If theres no water getting through while running from the top down,
> I would guess its getting in at the eave,
> ...


when you say eave, do you mean the highest point on the roof? if so; I have been inside the attic and I cannot see where any water is or has ever came inside. The part of the traditional gabled roof has an attic that I can get inside and see almost to the point where the transition of the high pitch to the low slope. I cannot see the part of the low slope because there is no attic. I am not a roofer but I have many years of experience as a maintenance man. I have experience looking for leaks from the inside of attics. In my experience one can see discoloration of wood and insulation and or other materials where water has been. My point is i do not believe the water is coming in at the "eave" if that is what you call the eave. I have heard other people call the eave - the part of the roof that projects beyond the wall. (because that is the definition in the dictionary) that part i call the fascia and cornice. water would have to travel up hill to come in at the point in the house. There is a 12" drop from the highest point of the transition of the low slope to the outside edge at he lowest point is 12'. at the other side (opposite looking at the pictures) I will try and spray water up at the cornice and see If I can get it to leak. I have not tried that. the thought did cross my mind it could have come in there but I dismissed it because I inspected the area and it looked well constructed and I could not find any water damage. I will do that this week-end. any other suggestions or ideas I will gladly except.


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## Ed the Roofer (Jan 27, 2007)

Seriously, you have coated the roof so much that the job is now a nightmare for anyone to diagnose.

You really need to remove the entire roof and the sloped roof and start fresh. It will continually have more and more problems the way it is now, every time the coating expands and contracts, splitting the under-lying roofing materials with it.

Ed


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## kaju (Aug 19, 2008)

Ed the Roofer said:


> Seriously, you have coated the roof so much that the job is now a nightmare for anyone to diagnose.
> 
> You really need to remove the entire roof and the sloped roof and start fresh. It will continually have more and more problems the way it is now, every time the coating expands and contracts, splitting the under-lying roofing materials with it.
> 
> Ed


I know I need to replace the whole roof but
Sadly that is not an option at this point, because of money. I wpild have already doe that if I had the money. If I had the money I would do away with the low slope and put a regular pitched new roof on it. every person I know including myself has had a leak with low slope roofs and flat roofs. I have a shed out back of my house that I store extra lumber. it has a tin roof that has a regular pitch to it. you can stand inside and look up and see daylight from the many holes in it. It has not ever droped one drop of water on my lumber or anything else under it. 
anyway untill I can obtain the extra cash to redo the whole roof I have to stop the leake before it causes even more damage. I was hoping I could find a few answers here.


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

kaju said:


> every person I know including myself has had a leak with low slope roofs and flat roofs.


Don't blame the roof design, you get what you pay for. There are many quality systems and many quality installers out there. The number one reason for issues like that is cutting corners and trying to save a few dollars. 

As far as your current issue, on your roof can't tell you exactly where the leak is but can guide you a little. The leak is going to be somewhere above where it is actually leaking inside, and within a foot either side of it. Most of the time it will only get down 4-8 feet at the most before it finds it's way inside so should narrow your search down to 16 sq feet at the most. Gonna see if I can decipher anything more specific from your pictures.

From those pictures, I highly doubt it's leaking anywhere above that transition or it would show inside much earlier. That is a very cheap roof you have on the flat deck, odds are the leak is there. Cheapest and surest way to investigate properly is tear that flatdeck off as far this way as you can afford. When you can afford it, spend the money on quality material and a quality contractor to install it properly. Nothing wrong with the design of that roof.


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## kaju (Aug 19, 2008)

OldNBroken said:


> Don't blame the roof design, you get what you pay for. There are many quality systems and many quality installers out there. The number one reason for issues like that is cutting corners and trying to save a few dollars.
> 
> As far as your current issue, on your roof can't tell you exactly where the leak is but can guide you a little. The leak is going to be somewhere above where it is actually leaking inside, and within a foot either side of it. Most of the time it will only get down 4-8 feet at the most before it finds it's way inside so should narrow your search down to 16 sq feet at the most. Gonna see if I can decipher anything more specific from your pictures.
> 
> From those pictures, I highly doubt it's leaking anywhere above that transition or it would show inside much earlier. That is a very cheap roof you have on the flat deck, odds are the leak is there. Cheapest and surest way to investigate properly is tear that flatdeck off as far this way as you can afford. When you can afford it, spend the money on quality material and a quality contractor to install it properly. Nothing wrong with the design of that roof.


Thank you oldnbroken, your response was helpfully.
he he he:laughing: My first job was a roofing job. we were repairing leaks on on a school that had a basically flat roof with the tar and gravel. Five buildings that were 90'x300' all had multiple leaks. My grand father had the same roof his leaked once a year. My dads utility room was flat it leaked once a year. My job as a maintenance director for twenty years for a private school we had four buildings with the flat roof each one of them leaked at least once a year. I know of many many more, too many to type out and explain here. my private school brought in an engineer from LSU Baton Rouge to do a a study as to why the building kept leaking after $250,000.00 had been spent trying to stop leaks. The outcome he explained was water expansion. Again I cannot go into that here either. (I would love to but I cant because of time.) I believe you that when the job is done right with the right kind of material it should never leak. But spending $250000.00 with a reputable roof contractor my point is made. I'm not trying to get into an argument here I'm just Sang in my experience which is not to be dismissed but is not as great as others, every flat roof or should I say low slope roof I have Delta with has leaked. Even my office building I am in now has a leak. picture enclosed.I know the thousands of high rise buildings the millions of them across the nation and around the world have flat roofs and do not leak, but in my case I do not have the money a corporation has to build a high rise building with a special roof. if I had that kind of money I would probably live in a different kind of house all together:thumbup:. with the kind advise I am getting here from you guys I should get this licked. thank you again oldnbroken and you other guys. keep up the good advice.


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## Ed the Roofer (Jan 27, 2007)

Not all stains on acoustical ceilings are from roof leaks. Many service calls have resulted in the HVAC condensate trap being clogged with silt and overflowing the interior condensation catch pan.

Also, on single ply roof membranes, most leaks that I have discovered have been the result of maintenance staff removing the HVAC service panel and placing the sharp edge in direct contact with the roof material causing a puncture or slice.

I am not inferring that maintenance men or supervisors are negligent, but I do know for a fact that many other trades and personal do not have sufficient knowledge or act with proper due caution on a vulnerable membrane roof system.

In regards to your situation once again, the flood coat of asphaltic roof coating has probably covered up the possibility of finding the precise leak location.

*The most likely area to view would have been at the transition from the flat roof to the sloped roof,* which is now saturated with gobbly-****. It could be s slight stress fracture or even a small nail hole, but finding it will be next to impossible now.

Had you tried to remove the bottom several rows of shingles to visually inspect the material directly under the bottom butt end of the transitional tie in, you may have been able to view the source, but now that it is coated with the viscuous material, it probably has adhered the shingles down too strenuously to be able to carefully remove them.

Also, now with that saturating coating, which will remain tacky, it will be one heck of a mess to try to remove the materials and replace them at some time in the future.

Ed


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## Slyfox (Jun 13, 2008)

Sorry, no i did not mean the top of the roof, sir.
The leak is probably traveling up hill against the low slope, start at the bottom 'gutter edge' and spray the water up hill and find the loose laps in the materials.
Also look for fasteners that have began pulling up out of the material.

You can also try using a florescent light or black light while in your crawl space, either will enhance water marks on the lumber.


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## kaju (Aug 19, 2008)

Slyfox said:


> Sorry, no i did not mean the top of the roof, sir.
> The leak is probably traveling up hill against the low slope, start at the bottom 'gutter edge' and spray the water up hill and find the loose laps in the materials.
> Also look for fasteners that have began pulling up out of the material.
> 
> You can also try using a florescent light or black light while in your crawl space, either will enhance water marks on the lumber.


good idea on the black light never thought of that.


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## CT_Rebel (May 10, 2009)

*Use burn-down*

I had a VERY similar situation where my gabled roof dumped onto my flat garage roof. I tried everything to fix it myself but nothing anyone suggested worked for very long. I had a contractor install a burn-down roof and viola, no more leaks.


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## texas115115 (May 3, 2009)

Kaju where are you located? Also a roof leek is covered by home onwers insurance. Good luck


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## bylogic (Sep 16, 2009)

My dad had the same problem with an addition over his garage. The water was seeping under the shingles and causing leakage. He decided to go with Metal roofing on the low sloping side. His roof started at the top of the ridge though so it was easy to put a metal cap on. You may need some type of flashing or something to go from shingle or metal. We did the labor ourselves and it took about a day. We got the metal from Roofing Contractor in Baton Rouge called Garcia Roofing. If i think about it i'll try and get some pictures up.

You can also try here for Roofing Supplies in Louisiana


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## AaronB (Jan 29, 2005)

Is that water spot on the drop ceiling at the outside wall?


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## AaronB (Jan 29, 2005)

And roof leaks are NOT covered by homeowners insurance.

I went on a roof leak today, a flat roof with a major belly in the center. People blamed the flat roof instead of the jackass "roofer" that failed to flash the drain and used ODE for a perimeter flashing. LMAO

You get what you pay for.


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## virgo822 (Jul 8, 2011)

*Have leak in concrete tile roof.*

I have a leak in my kitchen ceiling , my son went on the roof to check for any cracks and sealed what ever he found , he felt that the water was getting in along the flang on the point ,because he saw alot of cracking there , so we bought some kind of roof sealer / concete patch and put several coats along and up under the flang, then he put another piece of aluminum sheeting up under and sealed that again, but we still have water stains in the kitchen , he can't find any where else it could be coming in , the roof is in great shape but this is a real problem because there are so many ups and downs on this roof ,that there is noo attic space in that area where the leak is , can you suggest some kind of sealer that we can spray that whole section with that will form a protective shield or completely seal the whole area , please help me , thanks .virgo822


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## Grumpy (Dec 12, 2003)

virgo822 said:


> I have a leak in my kitchen ceiling , my son went on the roof to check for any cracks and sealed what ever he found , he felt that the water was getting in along the flang on the point ,because he saw alot of cracking there , so we bought some kind of roof sealer / concete patch and put several coats along and up under the flang, then he put another piece of aluminum sheeting up under and sealed that again, but we still have water stains in the kitchen , he can't find any where else it could be coming in , the roof is in great shape but this is a real problem because there are so many ups and downs on this roof ,that there is noo attic space in that area where the leak is , can you suggest some kind of sealer that we can spray that whole section with that will form a protective shield or completely seal the whole area , please help me , thanks .virgo822


Start a new thread and post some pics. Thanks.


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## Lawayne (Jul 9, 2011)

Hello. I have been doing roofing for nearly 30 years and based on my experience, when you have a roof that changes from a 5/12 pitch to nearly a flat roof, 95% of the time it is leaking where it changes pitches. Just make sure that the roll roofing is under the shingles far enough and that no tack heads are in the rain grooves. Raise up the bottom shingles and place a good bead of roofing tar and make sure your roll roofing is tarred down good. Most importantly though, just make sure the roll roofing goes from the flat roof well upon the pitched roof under the shingles. It looked like you had water standing where it changes pitches. Roll roofing comes in 1 sq. rolls. (3'w by 33.3'L). Based on 1 of your pictures you enclosed, it really looks like to me that the roll roofing isn't going upon to the pitched roof enough. There doesn't need to be a break in the roll roofing where it changes pitches. It should be layed upon the pitched roof about 18 to 20 inches. Hope this helps. I'll be glad to help you anyway I can.


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## virgo822 (Jul 8, 2011)

*virgo822*

hello, 
thanks for your reply but I put my quote in the wrong section , I do not have a flat roof , I have all different angels on my roof with cement tiles , the roof is in great condition but i have a leak coming in somewhere around the top point cap ...?
don't know what it's called , my son has went up there and patched it with cement patch all around where he seen tiny cracks , he did it 3 times and every time it rains ,the kitchen ceiling is still getting wet , we can't go inside the attic because the whole house has different piches and in that area there is no crawl space .
I can send you pictures if that will help you , I really need help , thanks carol


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## Grumpy (Dec 12, 2003)

start a new thread and post some pics.


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## virgo822 (Jul 8, 2011)

*new thread*

I'm gonna make you real grumpy by what I say now ....I don't know how to start a new thread , I will try ...can't I just send them to you in a reply ..thanks carol


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

Carol, go to the main page for roofing. There’s a big button on the left that says “new topic”.

Post pictures if you can. http://www.diychatroom.com/f19/how-attach-photo-post-12559/


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## Pau-Latina (May 26, 2012)

I have the same problem. Does anybody know a good kind of sealant. Please I am desperate. Thank you very much.


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