Leak in rolled asphalt roof

[Donald]

The roof over my kitchen does not have a pitch steep enough for normal asphalt shingles so it rolled asphalt roofing. When the recent snow started to melt a leak appeared in kitchen ceiling. The flashing where the roof meets the main house siding looks OK. The asphalt does not appear to be in bad shape.

So it's winter, house is sold, price agreed upon but I need to fix the leak. And it's cold out. Not looking to spring for a new roof. Need to stop the leak.

I was thinking of a skin coat of roof cement over the general area of the leak. FlexSeal as seen on TV skim coated? Silicone caulking skim coated?

Other ideas?

 

[64bawagon]

The vast majority of leaks come from flashing or a protrusion through the roof (vent or stink pipe etc)
Avoid the flex seal, its junk, especially when exposed to UV.
Silicone and asphalt shingles do not play nice together, if your going to caulk with anything that actually touches a shingle use something like dewitts 99 in a caulk tube, it can also be used in the cold or when the roof is damp.
I would look closely for anything poking through the rolled roofing, its possible a nail has poked up. If at all possible, look into the attic for witness marks from the water, that will allow you to focus your attention

 

[JTK]

Is there some type of attic or crawl space between the kitchen ceiling and roof?

Chasing leaks is difficult because the water may be coming through the ceiling many feet away from where the actual roof leak is.

@64bawagon has excellent advice.

 

[nthach]

If you must caulk asphalt roofing(shingles or sheet roofing), use only asphalt roof cement such as Henry Wet Patch, or a polyether/terpolymer caulk as Geocel 4000/Chemlink Duralink 35(available at your local Beacon Roofing Supply, ABC Supply or local roofing supply house) or Lexcel Clear/DAP Ultra Clear, stocked by the local orange/blue box in the paint or roofing/gutter aisles. Don’t use silicone or polyurethane, they will attack asphalt.

Check for bad or old flashings, and any exposed nails. If the sheet roofing is down to the fiberglass mat or missing excessive granules, you’re looking at roof replacement.

 

[Donald]

The roof is over a cathedral ceiling in kitchen and screened porch.

There are no protrusions except for two skylights but the leak is higher up on the roof than top of skylights by 1 foot.

No vent pipe of kitchen exhaust vent.

Looking for a short term solution. May need new roof in next year or two.

Will FlexSeal last 6 months. Gorilla glue has their brand of FlexSeal.

 

[Job]

If the house is sold, but deed not yet recorded, it would depend on what the buyer accepts. Most buyers are going to not accept DIY repairs even if you do it right. Silicone roof coating on a roll roof converts it into a lifetime sealed roof. Not the cheap stuff, the $250/4.75 gal bucket kind. It is specifically made to go on asphalt roll roofing as one of the substrates. I think the roll roofing gets porous spots in it that leak, depending on the age. It may not be that visible but where the granules are gone and the underlying fabric becomes exposed. Your RE agent should be able to get this taken care of.

 

[benjy]

someone needs to check closely-up on the roof- for cracks + use henry wet patch with the henry repair fabric which looks to be what was used in the 70's, monsey elastic roof sealer + a mesh fabric on a roll. i applied in the rain while working for a local contractor for a hold over before a new roof until Pa weather allowed. while working commercial buildings roofers often applied a new rubber roof in colder weather!

 

[Donald]

If the house is sold, but deed not yet recorded, it would depend on what the buyer accepts. Most buyers are going to not accept DIY repairs even if you do it right. Silicone roof coating on a roll roof converts it into a lifetime sealed roof. Not the cheap stuff, the $250/4.75 gal bucket kind. It is specifically made to go on asphalt roll roofing as one of the substrates. I think the roll roofing gets porous spots in it that leak, depending on the age. It may not be that visible but where the granules are gone and the underlying fabric becomes exposed. Your RE agent should be able to get this taken care of.

Contracts signed, have not closed yet.

 

[PimTac]

The roof is over a cathedral ceiling in kitchen and screened porch.

There are no protrusions except for two skylights but the leak is higher up on the roof than top of skylights by 1 foot.

No vent pipe of kitchen exhaust vent.

Looking for a short term solution. May need new roof in next year or two.

Will FlexSeal last 6 months. Gorilla glue has their brand of FlexSeal.

Sounds like water might be migrating up, perhaps from the skylights. The low pitch roof will do that. So whatever you do make sure to include further down. A close inspection will be needed. Look for the edges of the rolled roof bubbling up or cracks or anything that is not sealed perfectly. Snow melting is notorious for this.

 

[Donald]

How about Henry's Fibered Black Roof Coating?

 

[Job]

Contracts signed, have not closed yet.

The buyer can walk, so it’s up to you if you are really happy about the sale price or not. If not, and they already dinged you to death with extra complaints, then you can say you found a leak just now and are unwilling to do anything more. They can accept or reject. But it has to be disclosed and accepted in writing by both sides. Your agent should be the one to advise you and handle it. That’s what they get paid for.

 

[Donald]

someone needs to check closely-up on the roof- for cracks + use henry wet patch with the henry repair fabric which looks to be what was used in the 70's, monsey elastic roof sealer + a mesh fabric on a roll. i applied in the rain while working for a local contractor for a hold over before a new roof until Pa weather allowed. while working commercial buildings roofers often applied a new rubber roof in colder weather!

Can Henry wet patch be applied to a wet roof? In the rain? Looking at weather forecast, it will be the warmest the day it rains.

 

[JTK]

Is your plan to coat the whole roof surface?

If you're not sure of the source of the leak, I don't see any other way.

Like @P. Edward KnickKnack suggests, I wouldn't do anything unless it's OK with the buyers by running it though the agents.

 

[zzyzzx]

Can Henry wet patch be applied to a wet roof? In the rain?

It says so on the can.

 

[manicrodder]

Sounds like water might be migrating up, perhaps from the skylights. The low pitch roof will do that. So whatever you do make sure to include further down. A close inspection will be needed. Look for the edges of the rolled roof bubbling up or cracks or anything that is not sealed perfectly. Snow melting is notorious for this.

This. Capillary action.

 

[nthach]

someone needs to check closely-up on the roof- for cracks + use henry wet patch with the henry repair fabric which looks to be what was used in the 70's, monsey elastic roof sealer + a mesh fabric on a roll. i applied in the rain while working for a local contractor for a hold over before a new roof until Pa weather allowed. while working commercial buildings roofers often applied a new rubber roof in colder weather!

The major roofing manufacturers(Certainteed/GAF/IKO/Malarkey/Owens Corning/Tamko) also call for what Henry Wet Patch is - a plastic roof cement for hand-sealing shingles below 50*F as well to seal broken bonds if a shingle needs to be replaced.

It’s very old school and some roofers think it’s for hacks but it does work quite well.

 

[97prizm]

Try epdm glue. It will bond with and seal kust about anything.

 

[64bawagon]

Unfortunately rolled roofing (we called it 90# since it used to weigh 90# for a 2 square roll) only lasts 8-10 yrs at best. A low slope roof will not shed water like a 4 pitch or above will.
With the skylights being that close to the leak area I would consider them to be suspect #1, they are guilty until a witness mark proves them otherwise. When we did skylights I would only guarantee two brands, Anderson and Velux.

I know for a fact that Dewitts 99 can be applied to a wet surface in cold weather. It sticks like a tax increase.

 

[Donald]

Unfortunately rolled roofing (we called it 90# since it used to weigh 90# for a 2 square roll) only lasts 8-10 yrs at best. A low slope roof will not shed water like a 4 pitch or above will.
With the skylights being that close to the leak area I would consider them to be suspect #1, they are guilty until a witness mark proves them otherwise. When we did skylights I would only guarantee two brands, Anderson and Velux.

I know for a fact that Dewitts 99 can be applied to a wet surface in cold weather. It sticks like a tax increase.

The skylights are VELUX. When I bought the house the skylights leaked on and off. Tried many things. Finally determined that the VELUX skylights should only be installed on a roof with a higher pitch than I had. I had new VELUX skylights installed on curbs that provided the needed pitch. No leaks around the skylights themselves.

 

[zzyzzx]

Try epdm glue. It will bond with and seal kust about anything.

Isn't that stuff only available in 5 gallon containers?