Roof is designed according to the need of the person who owns the house, according to the building style and code, according to the demand of the region. There are many reasons for installing a unique roof on your house. Sometimes either because of the installation mistake or wrong choice of material or due to age of your roof there are many problems faced by the user. Some problems may occur in your roof. You don’t have to directly call professional for small problems. Now after reading this article you can by yourself fix small leaks on your roof. You can repair your roof without waiting for professionals to come and fix it.
When you need professional assistance
No one likes a leaking roof. If there might be multiple leaks.
- The seal you had pasted is not holding the leak.
- If you are unable to trace source from where it is leaking.
- If leaks is significantly affecting the flashed areas or roofing surfaces.
- Surface of roof where you can not actually reach for repairing it.
Roof repair tips
Checking out the place directly and the type of material
Inspecting it in flat roofs will be comparatively easier than in slanted roof. In slanted roof you actually can find out the leak from the flow of water. Always look upwards of the flow of water for finding out the place of leak.
If your house has an attic, then you can watch out for black water spots with a torch and can identify the place from where the leak is.
Also you can run over the roof of your house once and can know the leak place.
Looking for reason of leak
Leak is because of damaged or missing plane or because of curved shingle
Straightening the curved backs
For straightening the planes you might need to soften the same but do not expose panel directly to heat whether you may in colder regions. Some roof panels are thermally active or flammable and may catch fire. Some may not but then too avoid exposing panel directly. Use an electronic hair dryer to soften. Direct heating may damage the shingle.
Repair the shingle or replace it according to the need. For straightening split damaged shake, use hammer and chisel. After removing the pieces, slide the chisel under damaged shake. Use hacksaw for cutting down the extra pried out nails at the end. New shake should be about 9.5mm smaller than the old and should be cut with a fine-toothed saw. With the help of galvanized roofing nail, slide the new shake into its place and then seal it. If your roof is damaged around your chimney or vents, larger scale repair is necessary.
Rejoin the shingle or changing them
Use a sealant or cement for reattaching the repaired shingle. Shingle after repairing if disturbs the slope of roof or break down during reattaching, and then it surely needs replacement. Take out the nail with which the shingle is attached and remove the same. Scrap the area underneath it to take out any residual cement or sealant.
Attach the new shingle after rounding back its corners and carefully install roofing nails 3.2 cm into upper corner. Cover the heads of the nail with sealant or cement. You are now complete with roof leak repair.
Conclusion
So we discussed how you can fix leak in roof. After examining the cracks, vacuum out all the water inside the crack. Area should be dry. Use roof patch material that is appropriate for the roof type. Take precautions like work when roof is dry; also wear rubber shoes as it works as insulation against electricity. Sealant used should be stuck around your roof material. Also use ladder frame and safety ropes while working on steep roofs. You can do it by yourself if you follow these general instructions properly.
Sources
- http://www.hometips.com/repair-fix/roof-leaks.html
- http://www.familyhandyman.com/roof/repair/roof-repair-how-to-find-and-fix-roofs-leaks
- http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/repair/how-to-repair-a-leaky-roof
- http://m.wikihow.com/Repair-a-Leaking-Roof
- http://popularmechanics.com/home/outdoor-projects/how-to/a3760/roof-repair-leaks-and-shingles/
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