Is My Roofer Responsible for My Lanai Roof Leak?

I purchased a manufactured home built in 1998 for my daughter. The inspection revealed that I needed a new roof. The inspector saw a small leak in the lanai and interviewed a few roofers who said the leak resulted from the attachment to the regular roof.

So I had the roof replaced last week, but now the lanai is leaking worse than before. The roofer and I inspected the lanai and it appears to be leaking along the seams. He claims this was not part of our contract – but the sole reason I replaced the roof so soon as becaue of this leak. What can be done to repair it? I have not paid him in full yet. During the recent storms the whole Florida room was drenched.

Our Answer

How ridiculous! Sorry, Mr. Roofer, you do not get to weasel out of this by claiming that it simply wasn’t your job to assure that an attached structure wasn’t properly flashed!
My advice: DON’T pay the roofer until he comes back, removes that section of the roof and replaces it, being careful to overlap, flash and seal the junction between the two roofs. Then when they say they are done, go up there with a garden hose and let it flood the roof for an hour or so to make sure it’s fixed.

Proper flashing is where the rubber meets the road, and separates skilled roofers from the other guys. The irony is that flashing isn’t even difficult – products today are far more user-friendly than ones in years past, which required bending metal or copper to make seams.
In sum, if this is a standard attachment, the roofer needs to overlap a good foot or two. It’s also a great idea to put ice or water shield, designed specifically to seal out leaks in both hot and cold climates, underneath. These ice and water dams come in strips, and should be covered in shingles after they’re installed.