My house is 13 years old with a shake roof. Several months ago I noticed a stain on the ceiling of one of my bedrooms and today I have a new one in the master bath.

My dad says I can go up into the attic and try and find the leak and patch it with some tar or some sort of roof patch sealant...

Is this possible? I told him I should call a professional to look at it but he told me not to do that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

You may be able to find the leak in the attic, but it must be sealed on the outer roof side.
You can have someone spray a water hose on the roof while you look in the attic for the leak with a flashlight. Check around chimneys, vent pipes, etc. that protrude through the roof first. Flashing leaks can be sealed with black plastic roofing cement.
If you have a leak between shakes, you can slide a strip of 30-lb tar paper up under the shakes to stop that.
Remember that water runs downhill when looking for the leak. If may well be above where it actually is dripping through your ceiling, or it may be higher up the roof.
Good Luck!
Mike

 

Like Mike said look for it inside then go on the roof outside.
Lots of times with shake and resaw wood shingles they will split right over another split below and let water in. thats when you have to slip the 30lb felt under the split or reshingle there. If you dont have the right tools to work on a roof like this call a roofer in .


ED