One of the worst feelings for a homeowner is to look at the ceiling and see a wet spot. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened to us the other day. Our home is 15 years old and the roof has high quality, 30 year shingles on it. An inspection of the attic revealed that water was running down the outside of the pipe. There were no leaks in the roof itself. A trip up on the roof revealed that the rubber boot incorporated into the flashing was splitting and separating from the pipe. It was easy to see how the rain was running down the side of the pipe. The flashing around the shingles was in excellent shape and I did not want to tear out the metal and mess with the shingles. I wanted to repair just the boot itself and leave the rest of the flashing in place.

Step 1: Obtain Another Rubber Seal

Items required

Vent Pipe Flashing

Heavy scissors or metal shears

Silicone Adhesive

I purchased a plastic flashing assembly from the local home improvement store. Using a metal shears I cut off the rubber portion off the flashing assembly. I did this on the ground to minimize the amount of material I had to carry up o the roof with me. I cut it oversize so I could trim it to fit on the roof.

Step 2: Trim to Fit

Now it is time to work on the roof. Use common sense safety precautions and make sure you can comfortably handle working on a rooftop.

Use your cutters to trim the seal until it fits neatly over the old seal. Dry fit it in place and make sure everything lines up and looks good

Step 3: Seal in Place

Apply a liberal amount of Silicone sealer to the old rubber boot. Slide the new boot over top and make sure it is sealed completely between the old and new boot. I put in enough material that it squished out around the entire outside perimeter. You do not want to get the sealer between the rubber boot and on the plastic pipe.

Step 4: Finish and Clean Up

Clean up any excessive sealer that may have squeezed out . Use a rag to smooth the sealer and clean up the excess. The job is complete and the seal is tight and leak proof.

This repair did not require me to tear up any shingles or affect the integrity of the existing roof. Hopefully it will last 15 more years, and by then the roof will need to be replaced.