Signs you have a roof leak
- brown or yellow rings on a ceiling, often near an exterior wall or below a bathroom fan
- peeling paint or bubbling drywall on upper-floor ceilings
- damp or compressed insulation, or a musty smell, in the attic
- daylight visible through the roof deck from the attic
- water in light fixtures or around skylights
- icicles forming behind the eavestrough rather than at its edge
Where Calgary roofs leak most
Vent boots and pipe flashings. The rubber collar around plumbing stacks cracks from UV and cold. Hail often splits them. It is the cheapest leak to fix and one of the most common.
Wall and chimney flashing. Where a roof meets a wall, step flashing and counter-flashing must overlap correctly. Hail dents and wind lifts it, and caulk-only repairs fail within a season or two.
Hail-fractured shingles. A bruised shingle can look intact while its mat is cracked. Water seeps through slowly, often showing up months after the storm. If you had hail in the last two summers, mention the storm date when you book.
Ice dams. Calgary’s chinooks bring repeated melt-freeze cycles in winter. Without ice and water shield at the eaves, water backs up under the shingles.
Skylights. Older skylights fail at the seals and flashing kits. Sometimes replacing the skylight with the re-roof is cheaper than chasing leaks.
How we repair it
- Trace the leak from the attic and the roof, and photograph the entry point.
- Fix the cause, not just the symptom. That means replacing a vent boot, re-flashing with new metal, replacing damaged shingles, or adding ice and water shield at the eaves.
- Check the deck. Wet sheathing that has gone soft is replaced.
- Report. You get photos of the cause and the repair, and notes on any related problems such as ventilation.
If the leak followed a storm, it may be part of a hail claim. Book a free hail inspection and we will check the whole roof, not just the leak. If water is actively coming in, see emergency roof tarping or call [403-XXX-XXXX] now.
Is it a leak or attic condensation?
In Calgary, many “roof leaks” in winter are actually attic frost. Warm, moist air from bathrooms, kitchens and gaps around light fixtures escapes into the attic, then freezes on the nails and the underside of the roof deck. When a chinook warms the attic, all of it melts at once and drips through the ceiling, often in several spots.
Signs it’s condensation rather than a roof leak:
- it appears during a warm spell after cold weather, not during rain or melting snow on the roof
- staining is spread out rather than below one roof feature
- you see frost or rust on nail tips in the attic
- bathroom fans vent into the attic or into a soffit instead of through the roof or wall
The fix is ventilation and air sealing, not new shingles. We check for this before quoting roof work, so you don’t pay for the wrong repair.
Ice dams during chinook cycles
Chinooks can melt snow on the upper roof in an afternoon, then refreeze it overnight at the cold eaves. Each cycle builds a ridge of ice that traps more water behind it. Water backs up under shingles and leaks into exterior walls and ceilings near the eaves.
Short-term, a roofer can steam ice dams off safely. Chipping with tools usually damages shingles. Long-term fixes are ice and water shield at the eaves (standard when we re-roof), better attic insulation and air sealing, and balanced ventilation.
What to do while you wait for us
- Put buckets under drips and protect floors and furniture
- Photograph stains, wet insulation and any visible daylight in the attic, with dates
- If a ceiling is bulging, drain it into a bucket through a small hole
- Note when the leak happens: rain, melting snow, wind from a certain direction, or a warm spell
That last point often tells us more than anything else.
Leaks and insurance
Policies generally treat sudden damage, such as a leak right after hail or wind, differently from gradual damage like a slow leak from worn flashing or ongoing condensation. Ice dam coverage varies widely between policies. We describe the cause in plain terms in our report so you and your adjuster can match it to your coverage.
When a leak means it is time to replace
Repeated leaks in different spots, shingles that crack when lifted, or widespread granule loss usually mean the roof is at the end of its life. Patching becomes money spent on a roof that will be replaced anyway. Our repair vs replace guide explains how we decide, and our roof replacement page covers what a new roof includes.