5 Helpful Tips For Repairing A Leak In A Flat Roof

Do you have a flat roof that is leaking water into your building, and you're not sure what to do? It will help to know the following tips for repairing that leak the right way.

Locate The Leak

Everything starts with finding the location of the leak, which is often done from inside your building. Be aware that the place where water is leaking in may not be in direct relation to the leak on the outside of the building. The leak may be further up the roof, and water is getting underneath the roofing material and flowing down to its main entry point.

Use common sense to try and figure out where that leak could be coming from. You will know that it's not lower than the entry point, so it must be around that area or higher up. You can look for discoloration of the roofing material, which indicates places where water was pooling up and potentially getting in.

Dry Out The Problem Area

You can't perform a flat roof repair if the problem area is still wet. You'll need to dry it out first so that you can start the repair process. This can be done by pushing off the standing water to a nearby downspout so that it leaves the area. You can then let the roof naturally dry out under the sun, or get out some towels to manually dry the area yourself. It really depends on how quickly you want to get to work with handling the roof repair.

Look For Damage

Now that the area is found and dry, you want to look for damage that can indicate how water is getting in. For example, blistering material is a sign that the roof material has raised off the surface and water is capable of getting in underneath it. You should also be able to identify cracks, which is an indication of damage from the sun due to the material expanding rapidly.

Remove The Damaged Membrane

That damaged part of the roof membrane will need to be removed, which can be done by cutting it out with a utility knife. Just make sure not to go through the material too far and damage any roofing felt and underlayment material on the roof.

Perform The Repair Properly

A flat roof repair can be performed by applying roofing cement around the entire section of material you removed. You can then lay new flat roofing material on top of the roof so that it is completely sealed by touching the roofing cement.

Contact a roofer for more information. 


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