Metal Roof Repair in Jackson

On a screw-down roof, each screw head has a rubber washer that seals the hole. Years of sun can dry those washers until they crack or shrink. Daily heating and cooling can also back a screw out of its hole, and Fixr names fastener backout as a common repair. The fix is to pull the bad screw and drive a new one with a fresh washer, sized to grip. Dabbing caulk over a leaking screw head is a stopgap, not a repair.

Wherever two panels overlap, along the side or end to end down the slope, water can be pulled into the joint, especially when wind drives rain sideways. The fix is to open the lap, clean out the old sealant, lay new butyl tape or sealant, and stitch the lap tight with new fasteners. On standing seam, a seam that has opened gets reseamed or replaced. If a lap leaks on a roof flatter than the panel is rated for, sealant alone won't keep it dry. See the low slope metal roof page.

Rubber pipe boots can dry out and split in the sun. The fix is a new boot sized to the vent pipe, with a flexible base that's sealed and screwed down to follow the panel ribs. Chimneys and walls leak where the counterflashing has pulled out of the mortar, or where a short piece of trim was caulked instead of lapped. A good roofer will rebend or replace the flashing so it sheds water on its own, without relying on a bead of sealant.

Orange specks on a newer roof are often swarf, fine steel filings left on the panels after cutting with a saw or grinder. Metal Construction News notes that they rust and can stain the paint for good, and that abrasive cutting can also melt the metallic coating off the cut edge. The trade advice is to cut panels with shears. The same article says a little edge rust is normal, even on factory edges, in wet climates. Surface rust on an older roof gets wire-brushed, treated and primed before any paint goes on. Rust that has gone through the steel calls for a new panel.