Hello, I have no experience in roof repair, so would greatly appreciate any comment on my problem. It has been raining hard lately here in Northern California, so the flat roof(?) of the old house I live in started leaking in two places. At one spot, the water starts dripping from the basement ceiling corner area after a couple of rainy days in a row, and not after short showers. Large area of the basement ceiling in that area becomes wet. No visible damage at the upper level right above the leak, but when it was raining there was a puddle on the roof just about above the leak in the basement. The water in that puddle does not drain as the depression in the roofing material is couple of inches deep and about a square yard in area. Quite a lot of seams of tar-asphalt roofing sheets are underwater and do not seem watertight at all. I am willing to fix it myself, so was wondering what my options are as far as getting rid of the puddle. The other leak at the other side of the house is worse as water drips inside the house through the seams in the woodwork at the top of the window, an inch away from the glass, with the paint peeling and the seams turning into slits as the wood takes in water. There are no cracks or other damage on the outside wall above the window. I have found several broken ceramic roof shingles though, which this part of the roof has, about above the leak, but have no idea where and how water gets to the window. I suspect that the water from the roof gets behind the stucco, goes down to the top of the wooden window frame and then damages it to the point that the woodwork starts leaking. Would greatly appreciate any comment. Thanks in advance, h.


Update: with the rain and window leak increasing, I had to cover the corner of the roof above the window with tarp to hide a few loose and broken shingles. The leak stopped within minutes and hasn't returned after a night of hard rain. The leak at the basement ceiling is getting worse with more rain though.

flat roof(?)/ puddle on the roof /-asphalt roofing sheets / broken ceramic roof shingles
A bit confusing here. Are these three different roofs of different materials?

One sounds like a mineral roll asphalt roof.

One sounds Like terra cotta roof, is that the ceramic shingles which would be refereed to as clay tile roof?

Let me know. By the way the asphalt that has a 2 inch puddle probably has rotted plywood under the mineral asphalt roll.

Is this a flat roof, Hot tar buildup? Of just asphalt and how flat is the roof. If there's rain gutters then it's a low slope roof. Get back please.

Need better info


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Thanks for your feedback! Yes, this is the same roof, but the two leaks are in two different areas. The roof is flat and covered with what I think is asphalt and patched with asphalt rolls here and there. It is yielding a bit when you walk on it. The roof when new probably had a slight uniform slope; it still does at most of the surface not touched by later repairs. Repaired areas have extra roofing material on them, so they disturb the uniform slope. This is where all the problem areas with standing puddles are. Yes, there are several rain gutters. My question I guess is if there is a way to somehow raise that depression to get rid of the big puddle without large-scale replacement of rotten plywood and other woodwork underneath, at least for short term to stop the annoying leak? Although I am not sure that the puddle is to blame, but it is consistent with the location and observation that it takes several hours of raining at a time for the leak to start. The second leak is above the front windows where the roof is ~45 degrees tilted and covered with clay tile shingles. As I have said covering the area right above the window with a tarp stops the leak. Thanks again.

Here is a photo of the local depression (the area within yellow rectangle). It is lower than the openings for two rain gutters (yellow circles), so water first accumulates in this depression and then spills over to the gutters. This area has obviously given problems several times before, hence layers of patches. I swept most of the water out before taking picture, otherwise the rectangular area is filled with water. The bottom of the depression is hard and does not yield to weight. Another thing to suspect here is ventilation pipe with cracked seal around it. Are there easy ways to level off this depression? Thanks, h.

For a quick fix you can use fibered roof patch (Black Jack® 5227 Roof Patch - Elastic Crack Sealer & Repair (http://www.gardner-gibson.com/linedetails.aspx?id=89) )to build up that area and seal. More than likely the ply underneath is rotted and that's the puddle effect. Bog box stores has the fibered in 1 gal and 5 gal cans.

If you decide to put on a new roof. Go with 0.60 rubber roof. Its not hard to put on and it last basically for ever. The water does need to drain at slights slopes. Especially where the overlap on the rubber roof rolls overlap and the SPM rubber caulk seal needs to dry enough so algae doesn't eat the SPM seal.

If you decided to replace the old with rubber I can give you detailed instructions on how to install. Do it for a living.


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Thanks! Do you mean I can pour that stuff into the depression to fill it? Also, I stepped in this depression trying to see if the plywood is broken - it is sturdy as everywhere else and does not yield.

Hi harum

Get the black fibered coating and trowel it on. The thickness will help you build it up and be able to control it.
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When you get either the 1 gal or the 5 gal stir it up good with strong stir stick. When you open the can it may look runny especially in the 5 gal. Stir completely and then apply.

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