Though roof valleys are common leak sites on shingle roofs, repairing valley leaks is fairly straightforward to handle if you know what you’re doing.
Roof valleys are channels designed to drain runoff water, and like any other part of your roof, they can degrade over time with exposure to the elements. In other cases, water can become trapped under shingles that have been overlaid to create the valley trough.
In either situation, the leaking roof valley can be fixed by removing affected shingles and structural elements and upgrading your roof’s flashing. Flashing is a transitional roofing material that connects the roof material to some other building material or to another part of the roof. And damaged flashing is behind most roof leaks.
Shingle Roofing: Repairing Valley Leaks in 6 Easy Steps
Prepare For The Repair
Follow these three preparatory steps to master repairing valley leaks:
- Clear any debris in the roof valley and surrounding area and measure your roof flashing — most flashing is 14 inches wide, but yours may vary.
- Move to the highest end of the valley and work your way down, cleaning shingles from both sides of the valley whether they’re damaged or not. Experts recommend that you give yourself 8 to 10 inches of clearance on each side of the valley. Use a nail bar to loosen the shingles in the affected area — insert the bar under a shingle and pry upward at the location of each nail to loosen a nail. Pull out the nails with the bar.
Repair Damaged Roof Valley
Here’s how to install new flashing in your roof valleys:
- Begin by placing the replacement piece of flashing in the valley lining up the groove in the center with the middle of the valley. Make sure the flashing’s bottom edge is perfectly aligned with your roof’s lower edge. Valley flashing comes in standard lengths, ranging from 8 to 12 feet – if your valley is longer, install the lower piece of flashing first then overlap the lower edge of the next piece by a foot.
- Use a metal cutter to alter the length of the flashing to ensure it lines up with your roof’s lower edges. At the top edge of your roof valley, check to make sure the flashing is properly angled to line up with the slope of the roof. Use roofing nails to secure the flashing in place, driving nails at 1-foot intervals along the outer edges of each side from top to bottom.
- Replace all shingles you removed, making sure their edges are at least 1 inch from the elevated center of the flashing piece. Work your way up, starting at the lower edge of the roofing and moving towards the top.
- Attach the shingles by nailing the upper edges with the appropriate 1 1/2-inch roofing nails for composition or 5d shingle nails for wood shingles. Trim and install rows of shingles that align with the existing rows at each side of the valley.
Don’t neglect repairing valley leaks in a timely manner — they can lead to additional structural problems, mold growth, and high levels of moisture and humidity, all of which can be difficult and expensive to repair.
Need Help Repairing Valley Leaks?
Repairing a roof valley leak takes experience, and is especially difficult on steep and tile roofs. If you encounter problems, be sure to consult reliable roofing professionals. We can handle these types of repairs quickly and easily, no matter what caused the leak in the first place.
Call All Roofing Solutions, your full-service roofing repairs contractor with over 20 years of experience in roofing and re-roofing. We will work with you to identify the damage and present you with options tailored specifically to your situation. Our priority is always to provide you with great service!
Call us at 302-725-7663 in Delaware or 610-551-7663 in Pennsylvania to schedule your FREE repair estimate. And don’t forget to ask about our discount of 15% off any roofing repair projects.
Why Choose All Roofing Solutions
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