I have no idea what I’m doing...but gonna try anyway

[UTfball68]

So with some heavy recent rain, I noticed a water spot on the ceiling of my kitchen forming and dampness at a sheet rock seam. I have a large open attic space above the kitchen, I go to investigate...sure enough there’s a relatively large spot I can see daylight. I climb up on the roof the following day, no holes, no missing ridge caps, no missing siding, no missing trim pieces. It’s right where my ‘secondary roof’ meets the siding of the primary section of my house. Upon further inspection, the daylight I see is actually behind the siding, so can’t get to it from the roof anyway. Fast forward to that evening, more heavy storms, I sit up in my attic for a couple hours watching and prepared with buckets for leaks. Not a single drop. So I’m thinking this ‘gap’ is covered ‘good enough’, but with the right amount of rain and hard wind in the right direction, culminated in finding an entry point.

All that said, what’s the correct fix??? Pull siding, extend shingles??? The fix I’m thinking is grab some angled flashing, cut to length, put some sealer on the back face of the flashing and screw that in to the joist...so it’s sitting flush in the gap. Put sealer on the bottom face of the flashing that will come in contact with the roof. Then seal at all seams.

Any issues with this??? Seems to be a better alternative than just being open. But don’t wanna cause more problems.

Here’s the ‘gap’ I’m talking about.

 

[Loganwayne]

If I’m reading it right your missing an angle flashing from the wall to roof.


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[RatLabGuy]

Looks like you need to just cut some sheathing to fill the gap, and get a tube of construction sealant, gunk all overt he underside covert he gap, and plug the sheathing in it, and call it a day.

 

[UTfball68]

If I’m reading it right your missing an angle flashing from the wall to roof.


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I have that gap running the full length of that section of roof...there's just tar paper and ridge caps covering it. I'm not familiar enough with roofing to know what's 'supposed to go there'. I'm not sure if this is standard since it is technically covered and not exposed to the elements.

 

[Loganwayne]

I have that gap running the full length of that section of roof...there's just tar paper and ridge caps covering it. I'm not familiar enough with roofing to know what's 'supposed to go there'. I'm not sure if this is standard since it is technically covered and not exposed to the elements.

Can you take a picture of the outside of the house of that area?


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[josh m]

Is it a ridge? You usually can see light thru a ridge vent.


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[UTfball68]

Can you take a picture of the outside of the house of that area?


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Yeah I can...but on the roof/from the roof you can't/won't see the gap. It's literally behind the siding. I can feel from within the attic where the siding is and that shingles actually do cover below this section.

 

[UTfball68]

My intention was to buy a couple of these. Screw the side with the sticker into the joist. Use some sealer on the inside face to lay on the roof. Then seal all seams.

 

[Loganwayne]

Yeah I can...but on the roof/from the roof you can't/won't see the gap. It's literally behind the siding. I can feel from within the attic where the siding is and that shingles actually do cover below this section.

i just want to make sure what i think is going on is what is actually what is there. in my mind you are missing the step flashing that should be going there but if its not what im thinking it is then that wouldnt do you any good.

 

[Fabrik8]

If that's a shed roof section, and that section is the highest spot in that area of the attic, is there a vent where that shed roof section attaches to the vertical wall?

 

[kaiser715]

Can we get a pic of this area from the outside?

Is the siding vinyl? It's easy to pull and replace.

Only way to do this right is from the outside. A "little" water making it's way to the OSB will cause a big problem later on.

 

[UTfball68]

Best pics I can get for now. It’s at the junction where the two roofs and siding/under gutter all come together.

 

[Loganwayne]

First thing I would check is that the wall that meets that roof is step flashed. You will probably have to be on the roof to tell that.



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[Loganwayne]

Does the upper roof run over or tie into that roof on the opposite side?


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[frankenyoter]

The sloped portion needs step flashing and the flat portion needs L flashing. From the pic I can't tell if you have step flashing but you def don't have L flashing. Pull the siding back and take a peek.

 

[UTfball68]

Does the upper roof run over or tie into that roof on the opposite side?


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Ties in to

The sloped portion needs step flashing and the flat portion needs L flashing. From the pic I can't tell if you have step flashing but you def don't have L flashing. Pull the siding back and take a peek.

Thank you sir...

 

[YotaOnRocks]

What they said and if you've never spent much time on a roof grab yourslelf a piece of old couch or chair cushion foam to work on. It will keep you from sliding down the shingles while you try to work.

 

[UTfball68]

What they said and if you've never spent much time on a roof grab yourslelf a piece of old couch or chair cushion foam to work on. It will keep you from sliding down the shingles while you try to work.

Thanks...I've re-shingled roofs before...I just don't know what a proper set up is here or what it should actually look like in this instance. I mean, I imagine a leak isn't 'within acceptable tolerances', but maybe it is. Or maybe I'm giving residential construction more credit than necessary.

 

[Fabrik8]

Or maybe I'm giving residential construction more credit than necessary.

Hmm..

 

[YotaOnRocks]

Thanks...I've re-shingled roofs before...I just don't know what a proper set up is here or what it should actually look like in this instance. I mean, I imagine a leak isn't 'within acceptable tolerances', but maybe it is. Or maybe I'm giving residential construction more credit than necessary.

Unfortunately the person roofing your house didn't know what to do either. Get that flashing put in and you should be good to go.

 

[shawn]

Looks like you need to just cut some sheathing to fill the gap, and get a tube of construction sealant, gunk all overt he underside covert he gap, and plug the sheathing in it, and call it a day

This is wrong.

If you have a leak, fix the leak. A bit of incomplete sheathing isn't causing a leak.

 

[shawn]

View attachment 273356

Whoever "designed" and/or built your house is a fucking idiot. The rake dying into the ridge is a guaranteed leak. The gable siding should be 2" min up off the shingles, there doesn't appear to be flashing at the roof/wall junction, etc.

The correct fix is to rip it all out and redo it, but you might get by with some GCP self adhesive and metal flashing.

 

[UTfball68]

I guess I went the hack way in the interim, with all the rain we've been getting, didn't want another leak. Spent $17 at lowes for some flashing and sealer, went to town and no more intrusion. Called a couple places I heard that give free quotes and they'll be out there some time next week.