The photo here shows a duct-tape-water-management-device I created as well as a seam between two pieces of plywood sheathing. During heavy rain, moisture has been getting under the shingles somehow (probably through a staple hole) and then running down the plywood until it found a seam where it could drip down.
I’ve had a cooler under the leak for a couple of months now and I haven’t had the gumption to get on the roof and see if I can fix the problem. Disassembly is always easier than assembly and I could easily envision a situation where I run out of replacement shingles, leaving the roof in worse shape than I found it.
Well, I bit the bullet last night and climbed up on the roof to see if I couldn’t effect repairs. I purchased a new vent for about 8 bucks and some waterproof aluminum tape for about $16. I had the nails and the wet patch and about 8 shingles left over from when the roof was replaced last.
I pried up a few shingles around the vent and found that the entire roof was done in staples. Now, technically, there isn’t anything wrong with them, but they leave two holes instead of one at each point. Many were corroded as well.
Once I cleared the area around the vent, I put tape down against the underlayment. When it gets hot (someday), this tape should get all melty and hopefully seal all the nail holes it comes in contact with. It seemed like a pretty good product.
Then I put the vent on and set about putting the new shingles in the areas where I pried up the old ones. I actually re-used some of the old shingles if they didn’t look to be in bad shape.
Fortunately for me, the rain started that same night and I was in the attic every couple of hours looking for a resumption of the leak. I haven’t found one so far, but I will keep you posted.