Ok, please hold back the jokes and take it easy on me as I describe my issue...this is my first post I've heard good things about this group, so here it goes:
I have been getting some discoloration in my living room ceiling starting just below where dormer meets the main roof (a flat, not A framed dormer). I inspected the area of the main roof right under the shingled dormer and found the OSB rotted out. (good fire starter and sawdust)
The valley is completely shingled where the dormer meets the main roof and there is little slope where the water should be running off from the valley to the main roof.
What I'm not sure is whether the water is coming through the bottom corner under the flashing, or pooling somewhere and coming in under the main roof between the corner of the valley and wall of the dormer (or maybe it doesn't matter?).
Any suggestions on how to figure this out, so I can identify my problem area before patching the damaged area below? [Being a newbie to roof repair, I'm trying to avoid tearing up more than I need to]
Here are the photos of my leaking roof/dormer...ugly ay? The leak problem is the corner furthest from view. (5 more detailed photos) I appreciate any comments. At this point, I need to patch this up ASAP to prevent leaking given rain is expected on Thursday. Any suggestions on how to do that so I don't get water in the house? (I'm in San Jose, CA) The short term fix need not be pretty given it only needs to be temporary since I will replace the entire roof soon (I will start a separate thread on this. I need input why the roof is failing...My 8 year old shingles have spidering/cracks everywhere except the top 3 rows below the ridge...not sure if that is a venting and/or product issue, as well as overexposed shingle issue per the "professional" roofers that looked at my roof today.
P.S. As you can see, I did not want to pour water on my roof today to locate where the water is coming in given the hole and laminate flooring below.
I also see what looks like where that metal looking roof dumps all it's water right up againt the "dormers" fashia. Not a great plan.
Looks like a drunkun salor did the weaving on those shingles.
If they had of been 30 year shingles they may not have leaked because there's no tabs for water to get under every few inches. I would have also used strorm and ice shield in those valleys.
So, short term, how do I "patch" this up until I get my new roof? One roofer today suggested that I just get something like roof leak stopper (rubberized roof patch) and a trowel, and just cover the entire valley and under the dormer (once I put the shingles back, and add some mesh backing to the hole). Do you think that may be a temporary fix for the next 7-30 days?
Titanoman, are you implying that patching the entire dormer area with the goop is going to create a problem for the roofer coming in? Is this stuff going to do the trick, or is there a better approach short term?
There hasn't been much rain since I noticed the problem. But now that I've disturbed the area and cleaned out the OSB, it seems fairly exposed. And, I'll be out of town a week over the holiday. Not much comfort with a hole in the roof!
Didn't you say you had a roofer friend? He would know how to lay some plastic, tucking it under shingles where he can, and some stickers where needed (1x or 2x nailers).
Looks like a few pieces of step flashing slipped under the edge of the shingles where they meet the fascia and up the fascia board to cover the gap may help some and maybe a roll of flashing tape for any other areas. Still only temporary and may not keep all the water out, but it may help.
Unfortunately, I do not have a roofer friend. Joe, I was going to go with Certainteed's Landmark 30 year product. Is that 3 tab? Ok product? Any reason why you are recommending not going with a 3 tab?
As for sliding shingles under, I think that may work (along with some step flashing with metal shingles along the facia board; however, if water is pooling and getting under the dormer roof, then it will hit the big hole (where the OSB is missing). Even if I shove shingles up there, water will get under them. My thought was to get some metal shingles, caulk the heck out of them on the bottom with Silicone, and shove them up under the dormer where it meets the main roof. Then patch the area with roofing cement and stepping medal shingles down integrated with the stepped metal shingles down below the original (of course as a temporary patch).
My worry is that I will dam the area with the caulk and bring more water in. Which brings me back to applying roof patch to the entire area to keep water from getting in (if that would work), or tarp it
You may cover the big holes with a roll of regular aluminum flashing which you can get up to about 20" wide or so . You can see if that will work but it will have to be lapped correctly and slipped under shingles so water doesn't run under it, of course that is assuming the old osb will hold a roofing nail to put it on with.
Not sure what you'll be using to fix that 'mess', but I'll point out one 'oops' and give you one tip.
The 'oops' is that this is a perfect example of why shingles, or anything else for that matter should extend past the drip-edge. What ever you method you use, metal, SBS, or whatever, be sure and extand past that 'valley outlet' at least 4", and hopefully you will have managed to give that exit a little bit of slope. If it's dead level there, it'll leak anyway without heroic efforts.
The closest similar pic I had was this. This was a roof butted into a wall. The end extends past about 2" from mit's closest contact point in the bottom and the flap of metal is there for the water to follow it and not wick back under the pan.
By heroic efforts, you'd remove enough wood to install a large metal pan under that eave, flashed into the wall of the dormer, and extending well up the roof under the bottom of that 'valley' you have there. Done correctly it would catch any water that wicks back there.
The way it is now, that piece of step flashing under the valley is correct, BUT, the valley by not extending beyond the dripedge is allowing lots of water to run behind it and the fascia. That's why the rotted wood.
Unfortunately, the OSB isn't going to hold a nail in this area around the facia.
Tinner, thanks for the tip although I am not sure I follow it. Are you suggesting that the Dormer Roof get extended out to each side further or narrowed? Also, with regards to your comment on the drip edge, are you saying that the shingles should extend over the drip edge? If so, by how much?
The crickets/saddles (the two, triangular sections of roof, behind the front of the dormer) are not extended far enough out to the sides of the dormer.
That creates an almost, "flat" area of roof at the bottom of the valleys.
Also, the shingles were not "woven" correctly.
Tinner, ok, thank you for your last comment which clarified this for me. The two installers I have talked to just want to install valley flashing (I think a W piece) that dumps the water beyond this corner (at the facia board/drip.) Is that likely going to work in this situation?
No 'W' there. It's not all it's cracked up to be. A large sheet 3'x4' of galvalume with the edges hemmed, and cleated in place, after trimming to fit the structure correctly is what I'd use as Plan A. Start shingle around the edges leaving 80% or more exposed.
Plan B would be 3-4 layers, staggered, of SBS mod-bit.
Plan C would be dimensional shingles but that's another plan all together. I'd probably be starting off on Plan C and be at Plan N by time I got that one finished.
Oh, the Heroic effort with that catch pan underneath would be 'A given' no matter what else I decided to do above it. Plan on doing both sides that way.
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