How to Repair Roof Flashing

A Walk Through on How to Repair Roof Flashing

Roof flashing is an essential part of any roofing system. It helps prevent moisture entry into the house by covering joints and seams where water can penetrate.

When your roof starts to leak, it’s essential that you act quickly before too much damage is done to your home. This blog will cover how to repair roof flashing in three easy steps.

Three Easy Ways to Repair Your Roof Flashing

Repairing a roof flashing should be done as soon as you discover that it is leaking. This will prevent the roof from becoming further damaged and reduce your repair cost in the long run.

The following are three easy ways to repair your roof flashing and get things back to normal for a great roofing experience.

Locate the Leaking Roof Flashing

The first step in repairing a leaking roof flashing is to locate it. You will typically find the problem area where your roof meets another structure, such as a chimney, dormer window, skylight, or any bump-out from your house’s wall.

Find the Damaged Flashing to Repair Roof Leaks

The next step is finding where the roof flashing needs to be replaced. You will typically find that your shingles have moved or are damaged around this area.

Sometimes, there might be a crack in either your asphalt shingles or roofing felt, pointing to where you need to repair roof flashing.

Replace the Damaged Flashing on Your Roof

It is now time for you to replace your damaged shingle or roofing felt.

You will first use adhesive caulk and tape around the area to be fixed before replacing the roof flashing.

If you will replace your shingles or roofing felt, make sure you cut out a rectangle around the area of damage and create a replacement piece from some new asphalt sheeting.

This will help ensure no leakage occurs at this spot again in the future after the roof flashing has been repaired.

Replacing with a New Piece

Another method of replacing the shingles or roofing felt is to remove the damaged area and replace it with a new piece after cutting around its edge. However, this may not be as effective in preventing future leaks from occurring.

Once you have located the part of the roof that needs to be repaired, use your hammer and chisel to remove the old asphalt shingles or felt.

Please note how they were laid down before removing them so you can replace them in precisely the same way once you have finished repairing the roof flashing.

Once all of this has been completed, take out your roll of roofing felt and cut a piece to replace the one you just removed.

Take care not to kink or crease it, as this will only cause your new patch to not lay flat once applied, which will result in leaks occurring all over again.

Replace each shingle by nailing them down with the appropriate type of roofing nails.

Finally, use your hammer and chisel to ensure that the new roof flashing material has been securely attached to the felt by removing it all over again.

Once you are happy with how sturdy it is, apply asphalt roofing cement around the edges of each shingle before replacing it once more.

How to Maintain and Care for a Roof Flashing

Roof flashing leak repair can be overwhelming and time-consuming. However, it is a crucial step to ensure that your roof remains leak-free for many years.

Here are some practical ways to maintain and care for your roof flashing after repairing it.

Maintain Constant Roof Inspection

The first step to take is to maintain constant roof inspection. Be sure that your roof flashing repair holds up well after installation, especially if you often experience heavy rain or snow.

Check for Leaks on Your Roof Flashing After Installation

After repairing the roof flashing leak, make it a point to check the roof for new leaks daily. A proper way to do this is by walking around your home and looking up at all areas of your roof from ground level.

Don’t Step on the Flashing When You Get Back on the Roof

Anytime you need to get back on top of your roof, you shouldn’t step onto the roof flashing repair to avoid damaging it. If you must walk on your roof, ensure you look for other solid surfaces that would allow safe passage.

Avoid walking over the repaired area of the flashing to avoid making it worse or cause any damage to it.

Immediately Replace Damaged Flashing Areas once You Spot them

If you spot that the flashing is compromised, then immediately replace it. If not replaced, there’s a significant chance that your roof will leak again.

You should take note of the fact that roofing flashing comes in several materials.

Regardless of what material your roof flashing is made from, the process to fix it would be almost identical.

However, you should consider using the same material as the rest of the roof when replacing a piece of flashing. This helps to maintain uniformity. 

Allow a Roofing Contractor Do the Work for You

Since roof flashing replacement and repair are very sensitive and technical, it would be best to leave this job to the experts.

They have the experience and knowledge of how your roof was built, so they’ll know exactly what flashing you need, as well as where each piece goes.

If any other repairs need to be done on top of replacing the old or damaged pieces of the roof flashing, the experts will know how to go about it.

You should only attempt repairing your roof if you have enough experience with roofing in general. Otherwise, there’s a high probability that you might end up doing more damage than good.

Final Thought

With all this information, you are well prepared to repair your roof flashing.

However, if you can’t get to do it yourself, there’s no shame in hiring a professional roofing contractor to do it for you.

Scroll to Top