Metal Roof Repairs - How to Repair Leaky Roof

Written By Carlos Duncan

Rainy season is a fact of life in many places around the world. This makes metal roof repair a requirement for keeping the water out of your home.

It doesn't matter if you are in Seattle, where it drizzles non-stop for 24 hours a day, or in Panama where it doesn't rain long but comes down extremely hard. If you have a metal roof, at some point you are going to have to perform a metal roof repair. And preferably you deal with it before you have to suffer with a leaky roof.

How you actually perform your roof repair will depend on the type of metal roof that you have. But the steps are similar.

This can be a do it yourself job, but it is on the intermediate side of things. If you have never performed any type of maintenance around your home, this is not the job to wet your feet with. Excuse the pun. Find yourself a construction professional with experience in metal roof repair.

But, if you feel confident in your abilities. Or this is an emergency and you can't find a contractor, here are the quick steps to perform this repair on your own.

1. Find a piece of metal of the same type as your existing roof. You do not want to use metal of a different type as this can cause corrosion through dissimilar metals.
2. Cut the piece a couple of inches larger than the area you are repairing.
3. Clean the area around the patch well. Use a wire brush and some elbow grease
4. Depending on how you choose to make your repair, either apply butyl tape around the repair area, or if you are doing a weld repair, put flux around the damaged area and the patch. If you are doing a weld repair, you should snip the corners and fold in the edges of the patch first.
5. Cover the hole with the patch, and hold it in place
6. If using the "non-weld" method, pre-drill holes for screws all the way around the patch. They should be at most, 2 inches apart. One inch apart if the fix does not seem tight. And then put in screws. If welding, run solder all the way around the repair, allowing the solder to run underneath the seam.
7. When doing a weld repair, cut 2 patches a couple of inches larger than the repaired area. After welding the first patch, cover the repair area with roofing cement and then apply the first patch. Repeat with the second patch.
8. Caulk around the seal and the screws.
9. Once the caulk dries, cover with a roof coating.

A leaking roof can be a nightmare for any home owner. Repairing it yourself is possible if you have do it yourself skills. But if you don't, it is best left to a professional.

If you even suspect you may have a leaking roof, do not ignore it. Take care of it as soon as you are aware. It gets much more difficult to fix once the rains really start coming.

A dry home is a happy home. Make those needed metal roof repairs now.

Carlos Duncan was trained in Construction Management and Engineering in the US and Panama. His Company, Constructora Cali S.A. performs renovation, home repair, inspections and new construction services throughout Panama.

When looking for Panama home repair or other Panama Construction services, call Concali.

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