Ben Gold g wrote:

Well I should note, its not FLAT.. but sloped. If you put a ball on it,
it would roll from one end to another.

Yeah, sure. Every "flat" roof is slightly sloped otherwise the water
would just pool in spots.

I tried looking in the crawl space but it was too damn short at the end
where the leak possibly is. I could only really look at the first 20-30
feet of the building (the leak is about 50 feet into the 60 foot
building). It all looked dry in that portion of the roof, which means
nothing of course.

Everyone has the same problem. Your next will be when the now rotten
plaster around the light fitting etc collapses. At least that will
allow you to have a look in the appropriate area of the crawl space.
Watch out for mold and wet insulation.

I had a roof guy come over to do an estimate, but he wasn't the guy
who'd actually be doing the work.

If he spoke English he's not the one doing the work.

He said it would be 700 bucks to fix
the leak, but he couldn't tell me how they would fix it - not even like
the process they would go through to find it. He just told me they'd
"fix it. 3 year guarantee." I didn't really feel confidence in such a
vague estimate.

Sounds like he's just going to paint the entire roof with the
aluminized paint. Price would be about right. Of course you can do it
for about $120 plus your (free!) labor.

He did seem to think the roof was in mostly good to very good condition.

Unlikely. These type of roofs don't usually leak for the first ten
years. After that they start leaking.

He noted that the building next to me had obviously put one or two new
layers on top of old layers, while whoever last did my roof had actually
stripped off the old and put down a new one, which is good.

He claimed there was no flashing on the 3 or so protrusions (vents,
skylights, etc), but I was unclear how he could tell, as it was all
covered with the strips of roll roofing, tar/asphalt/whatever, and
silver paint.

Most of the time flashing is done with the roll material and the
asphalt. The only places I have aluminum flashing is on the back
extension where I put it in myself.

Wouldn't the flashing, if it existed, be under the roofing material?
Anyway, I think he's right, but most of the areas that would need
flashing were covered with contiguous pieces of roofing material and I
can't really see where the water would get in.

Anyway, when I was in the crawl space I found the former owner's can of
"Asphalt-Asbestos Roof Sealant". Basically an air-dry tar like
substance.

Yikes! Asbestos! How many years old is this?

I slathered the asphalt on all the protruding edges, vents, and a corner
of masonry that looked a bit cracked (okay a little more than a bit).
It rains tomorrow, I'm hoping it won't leak again!

You're too optimistic. You need to cover the entire roof to be certain
but use the aluminized fibre reinforced paint. The "roof sealant" is
probably the stuff used to stick down the roll roofing. On its own it
won't last out the year.

If I have time I'll see about running down to lowes or somesuch and
picking up some more roofing repair materials.

About flashing... If I wanted to flash the protruding elements, I would
have to take up the roofing around them first, right?

If you want to do it like a suburban house, yes. However this is not
the same thing as a shingle roof. Because of the easy accessibility
and the fact that it's already a continuous layer of asphalt/rolls you
can just extend the asphalt up the protrusions with little cost.
Independent flashing isn't going to do much for you given that unless
you buy an EDPM surface you're likely to be working on this every ten
years or less.

-Ben



In article ,
wrote:

"Fred" wrote:

"Ben Gold" g wrote in
message ...

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.

Unlikely.

Strips of material all covered with a
thick gray/silver paint.

Roll roofing covered with an aluminized paint used to extend the life
of the roof by 3-5 years.

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.

Soft is not generally a problem. In fact the idea is to have the
asphalt binder a little soft so it spreads out and prevents leaks.
It's when it's hard and brittle that the problem occurs. Of course the
softness could be a bulge of water between the layers of roofing. This
you would have to get rid of.

Basically my questions a

what do I use to patch this kind of roof?

See below.

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.

Very hard to find leaks. Most people don't bother.

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

Did you get a roof inspection before you purchased the property? I'm
managing two buildings for the past 25 years with flat roofs and it has been
problematic to say the least. I'm a DIYer and could repair a few things
including tile and composition roofs but a flat roof is not one of them. I
would look at the age of the roof first (age and condition disclosure from
the seller?). If its over 15 years old than a new roof maybe the cheapest
way to go.

Not cheapest but certainly worth considering.

If its under 7 years then perhaps a repair job is the most cost
effective. Your roof could be modified bitchemen (long strips lay down with
a torch)

Not in Brooklyn these days. Torch-downs are illegal -- thousands of $
fines if you're caught -- but that doesn't stop the occasional Russian
roof guy doing it on a Sunday.

and the silver layer could be sun and UV blocker. I would get
estimates from a few good roofers first to found out the type of roof and
cost to repair. You then decide on repair, replace or DIY. Good luck on the
new rental - keep the tenants happy and the cash flow positive!

Advice:

I also have a brownstone in Brooklyn. Go down to Home Depot (or Lowes)
and spend an hour in the roofing aisle reading the cans. You'll see
what to use to repair the cracks and bulges and IIRC they even have
some brochures with a step-by-step process.

Absent any obvious crack or separation (look at the edges) the
cheapest solution is to buy some more of the aluminized coating
(around $60 for 5 galls IIRC) and paint the roof. It'll last you 3-5
years. Then you can do it again.

In contrast a new roof (just over the top, no tear off) will cost
around $3,000. The last time I replaced my roof I priced an EDPM
(rubber) substitute but the cost was out of this world. Around $10,000
IIRC but it's what the commercial buildings use and is supposed to
last much longer than the asphalted roll roofing which is only good
for about 15 years.