Roofs, attics & gutters · United States

Something is wet, and the roof is getting the blame. Start by finding out whether it deserves it.

We don't sell roofing, we don't install anything and we have no quotes to protect — which is why we can say plainly that a roof almost never leaks through the middle of a slope, that a large share of wet ceilings in winter are not leaks at all, and that the most useful thing you can do costs nothing and happens at the attic hatch with a flashlight. And one thing you will not find here: we never tell you to climb onto your roof. Everything on this site is written to be checked from the ground, from a ladder at the eaves, or from inside.

Start here: find the leak

Browse by topic

Roof leaksA roof that leaks is rarely a roof that has failed. It is almost always one joint, one penetration or one flashing… CeilingsThe ceiling is where you notice the problem, and it is almost never where the problem is. A stain is evidence, and… ShinglesAsphalt shingles fail visibly and fairly predictably, which is unusually helpful. Most of what you need to know can… FlashingFlashing is the thin metal that makes two different materials behave like one surface. When a roof leaks, the… Attic moistureA wet attic sends most people up onto the roof looking for a hole. In a large share of cases there is no hole: the… VentilationAttic ventilation is not an accessory. It is the mechanism behind two of the most expensive problems on this site… Ice damsAn ice dam is not really a roofing failure. It is heat escaping into the attic, melting snow in the middle of the… GuttersA gutter is the handover point between the roof and the ground. When it stops working, the damage shows up at the… Storm damageThe hours after a storm are when the worst decisions get made, usually under pressure and usually to someone who… Repair or replaceEventually the question stops being what is wrong and becomes what to do about it. That decision turns on the age of…

Is it even a leak?

Tell it when the water shows up, where it appears, what sits directly above that spot outside, and what the underside of the roof looks like in the attic. You get back the causes your answers are consistent with and why, what to stop doing, and the one check that would settle it. Its most valuable job is separating a genuine leak from attic condensation, which is the mistake that gets whole roofs replaced for nothing. Every question is answerable without going up, and where the answers describe a sagging ridge it stops and sends you to a licensed structural engineer rather than making a recommendation.

Open the tool

Featured guides

By location Roof valley leaks: why the seam between two slopes fails first

If a roof has a valley and a leak, the valley is the first place to look. It is doing several times the work of the slope beside it.

Start here Your roof is leaking right now: what to do in the first hour

The first hour is about limiting damage and gathering evidence, not about fixing the roof. Almost nothing useful happens up there in the rain.

The common mix-up The ceiling is wet and it hasn't rained: the condensation case

This is the most misdiagnosed problem in the whole subject, and the one where a roofer can honestly find nothing wrong.

Diagnosis Water stain on the ceiling: what the shape and colour tell you

A stain is a record of an event. Read it properly and you know whether you are looking at history or at something still happening.

Ageing Curling, cracking and granule loss: how to read a tired roof

Asphalt shingles age visibly, and the particular way yours are ageing tells you roughly where you are in the roof's life.

Most asked Missing shingles: how urgent is it, really?

The honest answer depends on where the gap is, how many there are, and what the rest of the roof is doing. None of that requires going up.

By location Water around the chimney: four different failures, four different fixes

A chimney is the most complicated thing on a roof, and it has four independent ways of letting water in.

By location Skylight leaking: the glass is usually not the problem

Skylights get blamed for water that arrived somewhere else entirely, and about half the time nothing has leaked.

Start here Attic condensation: why the roof is wet with no leak

The roof is not failing. The house is exhaling into it, and the attic cannot get rid of what arrives.

Diagnosis Dark patches on attic sheathing: what they are and what comes next

We can tell you where to look and what the pattern means. We cannot tell you what it is, and neither can anyone else from a photograph.

How it works Intake and exhaust: why a ridge vent alone does nothing

Attic ventilation is the mechanism behind two expensive problems, and it fails in one predictable way.

How it works What causes ice dams, and why the roof is not the problem

An ice dam is a heat problem wearing a roofing costume. Understanding that is what stops you paying to fix the wrong thing.

Diagnosis Overflowing gutters: what the overflow point tells you

Where a gutter goes over is more informative than the fact that it goes over. It is worth watching it happen once.

Start here Checking a roof after a storm, from the ground

The most useful hail evidence is at eye level, and the biggest risk in the days after a storm is not the weather.

Groundwork How old is my roof? Five ways to find out without guessing

The age of the roof decides most of the decisions on this site, and most people do not know theirs. It is usually findable.

The decision Repair or replace: the questions that actually decide it

The size of the damage is the least important input. Age and layers decide most of these.

Why this site exists

Search almost any question about a roof and the first page is roofing contractors — businesses that want the job — plus shingle manufacturers, whose interest is in the product rather than in whether you need one. That is not a conspiracy, it is simply who bothers to write. But it means every answer arrives already pointed at a repair, and it means nobody separates the cases where the honest answer is your bathroom fan is venting into the attic from the ones where the covering really is finished.

There is a second gap, and it is the reason this site reads differently. Look up almost any roof problem and you get a numbered list of steps that begins with getting on the roof. We do not publish those, and we say why on the page rather than leaving it out quietly. Falls are among the most common serious injuries in home maintenance; the professionals who work at that height are required to use fall protection because the hazard is well established; and — the part that actually matters — the evidence you need in order to decide what happens next is not up there. It is at the attic hatch and in a pair of binoculars.

We do no roofing, no gutter work and no remediation, we are not affiliated with any contractor, and we have nothing to gain from you calling anyone. Where a link to a retailer carries an affiliate commission it is marked, and it does not change what we say.

We print no prices. What this work costs varies by region, by pitch, by access and by year, and a number left on a web page ages into a lie — and in this industry a stale number is exactly what gets used against a homeowner.

And four things this site will never do, deliberately: tell you to get on the roof; tell you that something is mold, because that is a sampling result rather than an opinion formed from a description; give insurance advice of any kind — not coverage, not claims, not adjusters, because a site that does not know your policy or your state has no business having a view; or write about health effects. If your concern is health rather than the building, that is a conversation with a doctor.