Roof Sealing - Best Method?

I have a leaky flat roof with an asphalt layer that is about ten years old. The leaks are possibly from the sky lights or the parapet walls where the roof layers are opening up.

I have one roofer who suggests completely ripping off the old layer and putting a new layer with flashings against the parapet walls, with a metal bar against the coping stones to prevent leaks.

Another roofer says to chop the bubbles in the old roof, let it dry out a bit and put a new layer on top because more layers is better. He would use cold glue for most of the roof but torch down the layers against the coping stones on the parapet wall to seal it.

Anyone have experience with either method of sealing against the parapet wall and how well it works? What about complete rip down versus new layer? We already had a full rip down about ten years ago so there is only one layer now.

blacktulip

in Renovation 1 day ago

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Brownstone Home Inspection | 4 hrs ago

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Cate is correct in what she is saying but it would be hard for she or I to tell you from afar what is happening here and what the solution is.

I am a Haag Certified Roof Inspector and a CertainTeed Certified Installer and have inspected many roofs for people on this forum and i have coached them on how to maintain their own roofs should they wish or how to proceed with a contractor if that is determined to be the best route. i prepare reports detailing the problems and solutions. I teach homeowners to inspect roofs themselves so they will never need me again.

note the best thing you can do is paint these roofs with an appropriate roof paint. the paint keeps the sun’s uv rays off of the roof and that stops the membrane from degrading. even granulated (flat) roofs can be painted. aside from that, maintaining flashings is often necessary but pathetically easy to do –

i also perform leak investigations and carry moisture meters with me and thermal imaging equipment.

I recently did a roof inspection for bob marvin who is a frequent contributor to this forum. he is one of the people who has left a review about my services here.

Please look at my website: brownstonehomeinspection.com

Steve

cate | 6 hrs ago

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Was the current layer not put on correctly? Is that why people want to remove it or cover it with a new layer? A layer should last about 20 years, and then you can put a new layer on top (unless there are too many layers and too much weight, in which case you rip them all off, which is much more expensive). With a correctly installed roof layer I would think simply refreshing the flashing at the party walls and around the skylights should be sufficient. This is part of regular maintenance. FWIW, we had one skylight that was always leaking. After trying a zillion things over many years, we finally stopped it. We figured water was pooling and going up and over the lip and penetrating through openings that were inside the skylight frame and not visible. So we tarred that area where the frame meets the roof including up inside behind the outside edge (if that makes any sense). It worked.