Best Sealants for Roof Leaks

Dealing with a leaky roof can be stressful. When you see water starting to drip into your home, your first reaction may be to run to the store and look for a sealant to plug the hole.  But with so many out there, which is the best sealant for roof leaks? 

For professionals, sealant is a specific substance, like caulking, that seals around a tube or pipe. But in the broader sense, sealant is anything that seals water out of the house. Sealing is really the whole point of roofing, and it’s why we install shingles to start with. So, if your roof has sprung a leak, what’s the best sealant for those shingles?  You may be surprised to find it’s not a particular brand or special material. The best roof sealants for leaks are the ones that fix the particular problem you’re dealing with in the moment.

The Right Solution for the Problem

There is no one best roof leak sealant because there is not one thing that causes a roof to leak. Roofs are complicated construction sites.  They have to keep the outside weather at bay, while also fitting the layout of your home and accommodating the various chimneys, pipes, and vents that may have to rise through them.  To do this, roofers use a lot of different techniques and materials to make sure the roof is properly sealed.

When you find yourself dealing with a leak, it’s not as simple as just grabbing some type of roof glue or leaking roof sealer and slathering it on.  Each leak is different. Is yours a valley leak? Or a flash leak?  Are you missing shingles, have worn gaskets, or exposed nails?  It’s important to know exactly where the leak is and what’s causing it. Then it’s possible to identify the best materials and methods to repair and reseal the leak. 

Here’s an example we had to fix recently. There was a home with a roof that was nearly 20 years old.  It had a PVC pipe coming out of it. It still had the original flashing and gasket around the pipe. Over the years, they had become worn and eventually began to leak.  In this case, the right sealant wasn’t any type of glue - it was replacing the gasket and flashing so that the integrity of the roof was restored.

Restoration, Not a Bandaid

In this example, it may have been possible to grab some caulking and just slather it on to stop the leak. The problem is that this would have only worked for a short time. The problem wasn’t that it needed a chemical sealant - it was that it had a worn-out gasket and flashing. Until those were replaced, the problem wasn’t going to go away.

At Parish Roofing Solutions, we’re not going to just give you a bandaid.  All that does is give you a false sense of security. And in just a couple of months, we’d have to be back out on your roof fixing the problem again. 

Our focus on roof repair isn’t temporary fixes. It’s restoration. Nothing is worse than hiring someone to fix a leak, only to see the same problem come back with the next storm. That’s why, when we come out to repair your roof, we bring it back as closely as possible to its original condition. That means you’ll be able to trust the repair for years to come.  

So, what is the best sealant for a leaking roof? The answer is - it depends!  It depends on what is causing the leak and where the leak is.  With any roof repair, there are three ways to fix the problem - the right way, the bandaid way, and a way that doesn’t work at all.  Our job is to look at what’s in front of us and identify the real underlying issue. Then we can diagnose the best way to fully restore your roof to its best condition.  Sometimes a bandaid fix seems like it will be cheaper and quicker, but the reality is they never work long term. In the end, you’ll end up paying more and dealing with ongoing leaks. That’s why we always repair it right the first time, so you can have peace of mind and a solid roof over your head.