Roof leak repair in Newark: what to do first

Roofer Newark is an independent referral service, not a roofing company. The site’s operator receives each call and form request and passes it to an independent local roofer who can contact you about the job. Any quote, and any work, comes from that roofer.

First steps

1. Stay off the roof. A wet or icy roof is no place to be, and a flat roof in the dark hides holes, hatches and edges.
2. Catch the water. Put a bucket or a pot under the drip, with a towel inside to stop splashing.
3. Move things. Shift furniture, rugs, electronics and anything valuable away from the wet area, or cover them with plastic.
4. Take photos. Photograph the ceiling, the walls, the floor and anything damaged before you clean up, so you have a record for your insurer.
5. Then call or send the form, and describe what you are seeing.

Why the stain is not where the leak is

Water that gets through a roof covering does not drop straight down. On a pitched roof it runs along the underlayment or down a rafter until it finds a gap. On a flat roof it can travel under the membrane across the deck before it finds a seam in the boards. A stain in the middle of a room may start at a chimney some distance away. That is why a good roofer starts inside, at the stain, and works back to the source.

Where Newark leaks usually start

Where the water shows	Where it often gets in
Ceiling next to a chimney	Chimney flashing, cracked mortar, or the chimney cap
Top-floor wall, often the party wall	Parapet flashing and coping on a flat roof
A small ring under a vent	The collar around a plumbing vent or exhaust
Around a skylight or roof hatch	The curb flashing and sealant
Middle of a top-floor ceiling	An open seam or cracked blister on a flat roof, or water standing over a low spot
Top of a window or an outside wall	A gutter or scupper overflowing, or ice in the gutter backing meltwater under the roof edge

Leaks that come with ice and snow

Newark Liberty averages 31.5 inches of snow a year, with about nine inches in January and ten in February in the 1991 to 2020 normals. When snow on the roof melts by day and freezes again at night, ice builds in gutters and at the roof edge. Meltwater dams behind it and backs up under the shingles. These leaks often show on the wall below the roof line or at the top of a window, and they can stop as soon as it warms up, which makes them easy to forget until next time. The article on ice, snow and roof leaks goes into more detail.

What to tell the roofer

• Where the water shows, on which floor, and since when
• Whether it leaks in every rain or just with wind from one side or with melting snow
• Whether the roof is flat or pitched, and what it is covered with if you know
• Rowhouse, two-family, detached house or apartment building
• How to reach the roof: a hatch, attic access, or a ladder from the street or yard
• Photos of the stain and, if safe from a window, of the roof

What the repair usually involves

Most leaks have one cause and one repair: new or resealed flashing at a chimney or wall, a new vent collar, a patch over an open seam or a cracked blister, replaced shingles or slates, or a cleared drain or gutter. If the roofer finds wet insulation or soft deck, the job grows, and if leaks keep turning up in different places, the roofer may talk about replacing the covering. The roof repair in Newark page covers repairs by roof type, and the flat roof repair page covers flat roofs in depth.

After the repair

Let the ceiling dry out before it is painted or patched; ask the roofer or a painter how long to wait. Watch the spot in the next few storms. If the roofer’s work costs $500 or more, New Jersey requires a written contract, and either way, keep the paperwork that says what was done. Before anyone starts, check the contractor’s registration with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

Questions people ask