How To Repair A Roof Leak In The Winter

Roof leaks are problematic at any time of the year but they re especially troublesome in the winter.

How to repair a roof leak in the winter.

If a leak is difficult to find enlist a helper and go up on the roof with a garden hose. The shingles can be warmed up with a propane torch. Measure from the inside wall to the point of the leak. Locate the leaking source and search for the damaged or missing shingles and make a list of the areas to be repaired.

Locate the source of the leak by examining the underside of the roof from within your attic or crawl space. Proper ventilation rain and ice shields along with installing a drip edge will help prevent this problem. Shine a flashlight along the underside of the roof and look for a hole in the roof as well as areas that are wet or have been. Add 8 inches for the thickness of the wall studs plus drywall plus exterior siding.

For example soak the downhill side of a chimney first then each side then the top on both sides. To stop the leak use a long handled roof rake to remove snow from your roof or blow cold air onto the area of the roof that is leaking in your attic using a box fan. When it comes to flashing repair doing it yourself is something that is not recommended for any homeowner no matter what the season. The ice builds back up when it reaches the wall line where the house is heated and it creates an interior drip.

This will freeze the leaking water in place but you ll still need to deal with the ice dam or it will melt and start leaking again. First look on the inside where the leak is. If you plan to replace shingles in the winter it can be done but you have to add something to bond the shingles together. Start low soaking the area just above where the leak appears in the house.

Make use of the flame carefully on the curled shingle edges. The roof shingles should be softened and flattened as the shingles tend to curl up in winter. Then add in the width of the overhang. The purpose is to keep the shingle tabs down in high winds.

You nail shingles to the roof of course but each shingle has a tar strip on it that causes it to stick to the shingle that overlaps it.