Roof repair & leak repair in Rochester Hills

Roof repair means finding where water is actually getting in — which is often not directly above the stain on your ceiling — and fixing the cause, not just the symptom. Most leaks on homes around Rochester Hills come from flashing, pipe boots, valleys, missing or lifted shingles, or ice dams, and most of them can be fixed for a fraction of the cost of a new roof.

Where leaks really come from

Water runs along the roof deck and down rafters before it drips, so the stain on the ceiling can be several feet from the hole. These are the usual suspects:

• Flashing. The metal where the roof meets a wall, chimney, skylight or dormer. When it’s bent, rusted, or held on with old caulk, water gets behind it.
• Pipe boots. The rubber collars around plumbing vents dry out and crack after years of sun. A cracked boot is one of the most common causes of a roof leak, and one of the cheapest to fix.
• Valleys. Where two roof planes meet, water concentrates. Worn or poorly cut valleys leak in heavy rain.
• Missing or lifted shingles. Strong wind can break the seal strip and lift a shingle without tearing it off — easy to miss from the ground.
• Nail pops. Nails backing out of the deck lift the shingle above them and let water follow the nail down.
• Ice dams. In winter, meltwater backs up behind ice at the eaves and runs under the shingles. See our guide to preventing ice dams.
• Gutters. Clogged or pulled-away gutters push water back under the roof edge and into the fascia and soffit.
• Low-slope sections. Porch roofs, additions and other flat areas that don’t shed water quickly — see flat roof repair.

Storm damage

Southeast Michigan’s summer storms bring straight-line winds and hail, and winter brings heavy wet snow and ice. After a big storm, look from the ground for missing shingles, shingles hanging at the edges, dents in gutters and downspouts, and granules collecting at the downspouts. Our storm damage checklist covers what to look for safely without climbing up.

If the damage may be an insurance claim, it helps to have the roof looked at before the adjuster comes. You’ll know what’s actually damaged, and you’ll have photos of it. Our guide to hail damage and insurance claims in Michigan explains how the process generally works.

What a repair visit looks like

1. Tell us what you’re seeing. Where the water shows up, and when: every rain, only heavy rain, only with wind from one direction, or only when snow melts. That pattern says a lot.
2. We trace it. We look at the roof and, where we can, the attic, and follow the water back to where it’s getting in.
3. We show you. Photos of the problem and a written price for the repair — and an honest word if the roof is past the point where repairs make sense.
4. We fix the cause. Matching shingles where they’re still made, new flashing or boots rather than more caulk, and a check that nothing else nearby is about to go.

Repair or replace?

A repair is the right call when the damage is limited and the roof around it still has life left. When a roof is near the end of its life, repairs start chasing leaks from one spot to the next. If you’re on the fence, read roof repair or replacement: how to decide — or ask us to look and tell you plainly.

We repair roofs on homes and on commercial buildings throughout our service area. Request a free estimate, or call if water is coming in now.