Homes
Roof leak repairs
Traced back from the ceiling stain to the real source, whether that is a vent boot, a valley, chimney flashing or an ice dam at the eave.
Chapter 01
Tonight, before anyone climbs a ladder
A drip through the ceiling is a house problem first and a roof problem second, and the first few minutes are yours. Move rugs, electronics and anything you can't replace away from the drip. Put a bucket under it and a towel in the bottom so it doesn't splash. If the ceiling is bulging or sagging with water, keep people and pets out of that room, because a ceiling holding that much water can let go all at once.
Do not go on the roof to look, and never in the dark or in bad weather. A wet roof in a Detroit sleet storm is how a leak turns into a trip to the hospital. Call T&M Roofing at (313) 600-4538 instead and tell us what the ceiling is doing. The office answers Monday to Saturday, 8 to 6. If water is still coming in after a storm, we tarp the roof to stop more damage and then schedule the repair.
Finished brown shingles over cream siding on a Detroit house, the kind of roof a leak repair is meant to keep dry.
The stain is rarely under the hole
Water doesn't drop straight down. It runs along the underside of the decking, follows a rafter, and finds the lowest or weakest spot in the drywall before it shows itself, so a brown ring over a bedroom can start at a vent boot six feet up the slope. Chasing the stain with a tube of sealant is how the same ceiling gets painted three times. We trace the water back up the path it took until we find where it got in.
On Detroit houses the source is usually one of a short list: a cracked rubber boot around a plumbing vent, a worn valley where two slopes meet, flashing that has pulled away from a brick chimney, or an ice dam backing meltwater up under the shingles at the eave. Older brick houses across Detroit, Dearborn and Redford carry a lot of chimney and wall flashing, and that is where we look early.
Chapter 03
Fixed at the cause, and written down
A leak repair should fix the cause, not the stain. Once we know where the water got in, we replace the boot, rebuild the valley, reset the flashing or clear the eave, then check the decking under it. If the wood is soft, the written estimate says so before any shingle goes back down, because a fresh patch over rotted decking won't hold. The estimate is free, in writing, and we will beat any written estimate from a licensed and insured roofer.
Repair work from T&M Roofing carries our 10-year labor warranty, and we work under Michigan licence #262400794, fully licensed and insured. Ted Thompson started this company to treat every roof like his own family's home, and that is the standard on a small leak call too. If repairs keep coming back, or the decking is soft across a wide area, we'll tell you plainly when replacement makes more sense than another patch, from Dearborn to Livonia and the towns between.
"He stayed in constant contact with our team, and kept us updated on his progression with the project." Desharra Air King, Google
The leak sheet, in order
- Do
Move what you can't replace
Rugs, electronics and papers go away from the drip, to a dry room.
- Do
Catch the water
A bucket under the drip, with a towel in the bottom so it doesn't splash.
- No
Stay clear of a sagging ceiling
If it bulges with water, keep people and pets out of that room.
- No
Don't go on the roof
Not in the dark and not in bad weather. A wet roof is no place to look for a leak.
- Do
Call the office
(313) 600-4538, Monday to Saturday, 8 to 6. If water is still coming in after a storm, we tarp the roof first.
Water coming through right now? Call, and Ted's office takes it from there.
(313) 600-4538After a storm with the roof open to the sky, that is a tarp job first: see emergency roofing and storm damage. Once it is dry, the cause gets fixed under a free written estimate.