Hi, this is Steve from Roofer 911.
I'm on a roof in Fairfax, Virginia and the homeowner has a leak in the valley, right in this area here. She's had this leak now for about ten years and every time the contractors come back they're always working on the valley.
Now, the last roofer who worked in this area, he did an absolutely perfect job with the valley. He installed ice and water shield from top to bottom. Also when he fastened the shingles into place he nailed at least nine inches away from the valley center line so that's perfect.
Now, one thing I noticed is somebody put cement around this pipe flange so it's very tight so I cannot lift up the shingles to check the overall installation. What I would recommend is remove all the roofing material completely around the pipe flange. We're going to install ice and water shield to the metal and also to the wood deck underneath and then we'll re-shingle it.
Another thing is it's possible they can also have defective plumbing inside the attic even though I don't think that's the case because this leak only occurs when there's a wind driven rain, not with a heavy downpour.
As a precautionary measure, what we'll do is, we're going to put a PVC elbow on top of this and that will block any water from getting inside the pipe just in case there's defective plumbing inside the attic but at the same time it will allow the pipe to breath.
Here's another thing. Here's the valley and here's where the leak is here. One thing I noticed is they've got a shingle vent too, a ridge vent, which is very good and it prevents condensation build-up and mold inside the home and it also helps to release some of the warm moist air trapped in the attic.
With a ridge vent the plywood is cut three inches, excuse me, one and a half inches on both sides. If there's a driving rain blowing towards the ridge vent and if it's not waterproofed underneath properly, the ridge vents will cause a leak. If the water gets underneath the ridge vent high enough to where the plywood was cut here, the water will drop straight down inside the attic and you'll see water damage inside the home directly below. That's not happening.
What's happening is the water's getting underneath the ridge vent and it's finding the nails that are holding the shingles into place and then the water's seeping through the sides of the nails. The water's traveling underneath the roof and wherever the water finds an opening like a valley, that's where the water will settle inside the home.
With this leak, we have to work on the ridge vents directly above the valley. It's about fifteen feet on this side and also about fifteen feet on this side because that leak could be coming from anywhere. The leak could be starting from over here traveling down the roof. The leak could be starting anywhere above here and the water's traveling underneath the roof.
That's it. Once we repair the ridge vent and install ice and water shield underneath, and then reinstall the ridge vent, they won't have this leak anymore.
Another thing I noticed is the flashing around the attic vent is coming up. What we'll do is we're just going to lift up the flashing, insert flashing cement underneath, and then fasten the flashing into place and make sure we hit the rafters underneath.
Overall the roof is still very good. There's a little bit of algae but it can very easily be cleaned. They've got at least another ten more years life on this roof.
Again, my name is Steve. I'm Roofer 911 and we specialize in roof repair and roof replacement in all areas of Fairfax, Annandale and Northern Virginia, and I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.
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