A Metal Roof Leak Needs Special Attention
Metal roofs are constructed from a number of materials that offer differing levels of hardiness when it comes to rain and strong sunshine. The probability of a metal roof leak is directly connected to the metal roof material. For instance stainless steel is much more weather resistant than corrugated aluminum and the older tin roofs will need regular coatings of weather resistant paint in order to avoid rust damage.
However no metal roof is completely weather proof, although many of the materials are so hardy they can last up to 100 years with proper maintenance. Most metal roofs need to be installed by a contractor due to the complexity of roof sealants to seal properly and thus ensure that they are watertight, as well as safety issues when handling large, heavy and bulky metal roof material. The consumer should be aware that metal roofing is far more costly due not only to the high cost of the roofing material but also because installing the roof material is time consuming so the labor costs are higher than installing an asphalt roof. The exception to using a contractor is corrugated roofing which can be easily fitted to sheds or outbuildings by the homeowner, however this metal roof material is not as watertight in extreme weather conditions as steel or stainless steel roof material and may leak fairly easily.
When dealing with a metal roof leak the first step is to identify the affected area, leaks cannot usually be identified from inside the home due to the fact that water flows over various surfaces until gravity causes it to drop. The damage on the ceiling may actually be several meters away from the leak on the roof. The only way to finding roof leaks is to visually inspect the roof itself. When inspecting the roof for a leak always be aware that certain areas of a roof may be weaker than others, this is especially true of seams. A wrong step can pop a seam and require costly repairs and may even lead to serious injury. The easiest way to prevent damage to the roof is to take a large board up to the roof and lay it across the joists or seams to ensure that weight is evenly distributed. Take care not to place the board on areas of the roof which are too steep as this can cause the board to slip when weight is placed on it leading to serious injury. Once the metal roof leak has been identified then a putty knife should be employed to clean the affected area of any rust and dirt. Once this process is complete you can square off the area with butyl tape. The third step is to cut a piece of galvanized metal to fit over the hole and screw it into place over the butyl tape using metal screws.
Make sure the patch is flush with the roof and then seal around the edges with caulk and paint over with a roof coating. Using this process sealing a metal roof leak should be a simple DIY process. However if there are numerous leaks in the metal roof then a specialist should be consulted. It might be better value for money to seal the entire roof rather than multiple leaks.
