Flat roofs will always leak...get used to it

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 14:36:56 GMT, Ben Gold
g wrote:

hi,

new homeowner here... I own a 3 unit building in Brooklyn.

It rained on Monday, then on Tuesday the 3rd floor tenant had water
dripping out of a ceiling fixture. Not gallons and gallons, but a few
cups at least, if not a quart.

Anyway, I went up on the roof and, being new to this, I didn't find a
specific crack or broken seam or obvious flashing problem. Today I'm
going to try to crawl into the crawl space and see if I can find where
the leak is coming from.

The roof is rubber I believe. Strips of material all covered with a
thick gray/silver paint. It is noticeably soft in some areas,
particularly in the area over where the leak took place. I'm not sure
if its emergency-crisis soft, or just a bit soft.

Basically my questions a

what do I use to patch this kind of roof?

any hints on how to figure out where to patch it? If I can't find a
specific leak point my guess would be either up the slope from the soft
points and probably in the gutter area, where it is softest.

Do rubber roofs leak through eventually? There are some areas where
water clearly puddles, but there's no crack or split. There may be some
hairline cracks. Basically I don't know what to look for, short of a
large gap or obvious loose seam - which I don't see.

Any advice appreciated, I've looked online but found little in the way
of flat rubber roofs other than RV homes.

-Ben