FAQ

Most single leak repairs are estimated at $300 to $1,500. Small fixes at one point, like a cracked vent boot, can start around $150 to $600, and flashing repairs are estimated at $200 to $600. Wet decking moves it toward the top. The written quote comes after the leak has been reproduced.

By making it happen again. One person wets the roof with a hose, a few feet at a time from the lowest edge up, while another watches the stain or the attic. Water runs downhill under the shingles, so starting low and moving up means the first section that brings the drip back is the one letting it in.

Yes. The hose test does not need one: someone simply watches the ceiling instead of the rafters. It takes longer, because water has to soak through before it shows, so each section gets more time before we move on.

Because light rain runs off and a downpour backs up. Heavy or wind-driven rain overloads a valley, gets pushed up under a flashing, or soaks a chimney. It points at a joint rather than the open slope, and it tells us to run the hose harder and longer at that joint.

Water held in soaked decking, insulation or a flat roof's membrane drains slowly, so a drip can go on for hours. It is also why a hose test waits for a dry roof: the drip has to stop before we can tell that ours brought it back.

Sometimes for a while, on a small dry spot. It does not bond to a wet surface, it does not hold where water runs every storm, and smeared over the wrong place it hides the real entry point from the next test. It is a stopgap, not a repair.

It is common, and it is usually the flashing rather than the chimney itself. Brick and mortar soak up some water, but the steady drip in a downpour is most often the step or counter flashing. We wet the flashing on its own first so the two can be told apart.

It depends on the building. The state code treats roof covering work on a detached one- or two-family house as ordinary maintenance, while attached and multi-family buildings fall outside that. The City of Elizabeth's construction office has the final word, so check with the city before larger work on anything else.