Roof leaks during heavy rains

Hi! Great site! My first time here. My problem is this: when we get heavy rains lasting all day or night the roof starts leaking and then water begins to drip from the ceiling (drywall) in the living room. The leak is right off of the chimney wall. I've been in the attic during one of these rainstorms and have seen that the chimney wall is wet but that is not all: there are nails protruding through the wood roof and water is dripping from these nails - this has caused the leak in the LR. I was up on the roof last spring and applied black roof tar or surfacing compound/sealant (from Home Depot) in the areas where the flashing meets the brick and also covered over some areas that were cracked at the base of the chimney. The chimney also needs a cap which I haven't fixed yet - the existing cement cap is badly cracked and not much of a cap anymore really. I thought about this solution as I was looking over the many posts here and was wondering if it was a good idea: I'll go up on the roof and pull up some of the shingles directly over where the leaks were that I saw in the attic and try to locate the cause of the leak that way. I just don't want to rip up a great many shingles (30, 40?) trying to find the leak. And even though I still have to fix the chimney cap, am I right to think that the problem is more than a cracked chimney cap? My fireplace is dry and the bricks are dry.
Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks,
Jay

 

Start a couple ft. above the backside of the chimney. Use a "wonder" bar and hammer. Carefully pop the seals apart from the top row of shingles you want to remove {when it's cool out works best}. Remove the nails you see from this shingle. Then pop up the seal from the shingle above that shingle. You'll need to remove those nails as well because the shingles are nailed twice, once to install, the next nails used to install the next shingle also run through the first shingle.

Then just work your way down to the backside, then around the side of the chimney, removing enough shingles to access all the flashings. If you follow the natural progression, following the step overs of each row of shingles, and you remove all nails as you go, it will be a snap putting it all back together. I wouldn't bother trying to salvage the old shingles. Just take one in to a Roof supply store to match it up. Most chimney repairs we've done take no more than a bundle.

You'll need to install new flashings at the bottom, side, and back of chimney. You could either make these yourself, or purchase a "kit" from a big box store or local Roofing Material Wholesaler. Either way I suggest you locate a diagram showing how the flashings need to be installed/tied-in with the shingles. A kit might have instructions. Otherwise they are available from numerous roof manufacturer's websites and how-to books available at Lowes, Home DEpot, etc.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll give it a shot!