Most common roof leaks and how to fix them

Most small roof leaks can be fixed fairly inexpensively by yourself or if you hire a roofing contractor to do it for you. Most roof leaks are also very typical, so unless you have a really cut-up / complicated roof, finding and repairing a roof leak should not be a big deal.

A typical roof repair job will cost you about $50 in parts / material costs, plus your time and risk of falling off the roof. It will cost about $200-300 for you to hire a roofing contractor to repair these roof leaks, and there are roofing contractors that specialize in just roof repairs.

Words of caution: All the information below is provided as a reference only, and we are not responsible for any potential damages or injures. Before attempting any DIY roof repair projects, you should make sure to use appropriate fall protection, to avoid any injuries. You should also use a ladder stabilizer bar on your ladder to prevent it from sliding to the sides. Use utmost caution while on the roof. We always recommend hiring a professional roofing contractor to do any roof installation or repair work.

Replacing blown-off or damaged roof shingle(s):

Damaged or missing shingles are very common on older roofs or if your roof was installed with an improper nailing pattern. If you have one, two or a few blown-off or missing shingles, the new ones can be easily put back. If you have many – than you have a problem – especially if your roof is fairly new – this means your roof was installed incorrectly, and shingles will keep flying off the roof and at some point you may have to replace your roof completely.

Back to the blown-off or missing shingle repair. Each shingle on the roof is supposed to be nailed down with eight nails. Four at the top and four along the center line, just above the end of the overlapping shingle. This conceals the nails and lets the two shingles “glue” together. To repair a broken or missing shingle, you will need to remove nails from the actual shingle being repaired, and the shingle above it.

Things you will need for this repair:

You will need a bundle of new shingles – often left over from the installation, or you will have to buy a new color matching bundle of shingles. A flat ply bar, a hammer or a roof hatchet, a few roofing nails (unless you plan to reuse the nails that you will pull out) and a caulking gun with a tube of roof cement or roof caulking (I recommend using clear Solar Seal 900 rook caulk as in my experience it is the best roofing caulk I’ve tried).

You will need to separate the shingle being replaced from the shingle below it with a flat bar, and do the same with the shingle above it. Do this part gently as to not damage the other shingle, especially if the seal between shingles is tight. The best time to do this is when it’s not very hot or sunny out, as shingles will be cooler and easier to separate.

Once the exposed part of the shingle is loose, gently pull out the nails holding the damaged shingle and the nails holding the shingle above it. Pull out the damaged shingle, and replace it with a new shingle. Nail the shingle with four roofing nails across nailing line (about 1/2″ to 3/4″ above the edge of overlapping shingle). Nail the shingle above the new shingle the same way – voila, you just repaired your missing / broken / blown-off roof shingle. Do the same for other missing or broken shingles.

For more details watch the video below on how to replace roof shingles:

Replacing vent vent (stink pipe) flashing

Another typical roof leak type is a leak at a vent pipe penetration. There are multiple causes for this leak, and often it depends on the type of pipe flashing used. Nevertheless, whatever caused the leak is not very important, as typically it’s something with the flashing. Therefore the best way to repair this type of roof leak is to replace the actual pipe flashing.

Things you will need to replace leaking pipe flashing: A new pipe flashing – you can get it a your local Home Depot / Lowe’s or most other major home improvement stores. I recommend using an aluminum flange pipe flashing with rubber gasket on top for best performance. You will also need a tube of good roofing caulk, roofing nails and a few spare roof shingles, in case you damage some shingles in the process.

When replacing a pipe vent flashing, your will have to repeat some steps from above – namely, remove shingles from above the pipe flashing. Once you cleared out the shingles above the pipe, remove old flashing. Now take a new pipe flashing and apply a thick bead of roof caulk all around the underside of the flashing, about 1″ away from the edges. Place new flashing over the pipe and push all the way down. Apply pressure to the flange of the flashing to make good contact between caulk and shingles under the flashing. Nail down with at least 6 roofing nails, and use the roof caulk to seal all nails heads.

If the shingles you’ve removed were not damaged in the process, you can nail them back. If you did damage them, replace them with new shingles. Use an old shingle with pipe flashing shape cut out of it to replicate that shape on the new shingle. Apply a bead of caulk between the new flashing and shingles overlapping it from the top.

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