Roof Leak Repair in Pompano Beach, FL

Water runs along rafters, deck seams and underlayment before it drops, so the ceiling spot is only a starting clue. A good trace starts in the attic during or just after rain, following dark wood uphill to where it first turns wet. If the attic can't be reached, a controlled hose test, one section of roof at a time with someone watching inside, narrows it down. A moisture meter on the deck or ceiling shows how far the water has spread. Search time is billed: labor makes up 60% or more of a typical leak repair, and the hours spent locating the source add to the total. Ask what the trace will involve and how it is priced before it starts.

Where a roof slope meets a stucco wall on a CBS block house, the seal depends on metal counterflashing set into or over the stucco. In the HVHZ that metal must turn down over the base flashing by at least 3 inches. Cracked stucco above the flashing line lets water behind it, so the leak can look like a roof problem when it starts in the wall. Chimney flashing leaks cost about $150 to $700 to fix in national guides. Replacing or rebuilding the metal itself is covered under roof flashing repair.

Plumbing vents, bath fans and gas appliance vents all cut holes in the roof, and the rubber boots around them dry out in the sun. A cracked boot runs about $250 to $600 to replace. A failed metal collar on a gas vent costs about $400 to $1,500. For pipes, the HVHZ code accepts a lead sleeve (lead of 2.5 lb per sq ft or heavier, with a flange of 4 inches or more), a pitch pan, or a method spelled out in the roof system's approval. Ask which one will go back on. The flashing repair page goes through each vent type.

A valley carries the water from two slopes at once. When palm fronds and seed pods pile up there, water backs up under the edges of the shingles or tile. Valley repairs run about $300 to $1,500. They can climb to $6,000 or more when the decking and underlayment beneath have rotted. On shingle roofs the HVHZ code calls for metal valleys, and it bans any roof penetration inside a valley. A vent pipe sitting in one is a code problem as well as a leak.

Some leaks have no single entry point. The underlayment, the waterproof layer under the tile or shingles, has simply aged out. Cost guides give felt 15 to 30 years, and put most underlayment due for replacement somewhere in its third decade. On tile roofs that often comes well before the tiles themselves wear out. New underlayment costs roughly 75 cents to $4 per square foot, plus the cost of lifting and relaying the covering. Scattered stains in several rooms usually point here. See tile roofing for the lift-and-relay job.