Roof guide
Pipe boots: the leak nobody looks for
Every house has three or four of them. Almost nobody knows what they are until one leaks.
What a pipe boot is
Each plumbing line in your house vents through the roof as a short pipe. Around the base of that pipe sits a rubber collar on a metal or plastic flange, sealed under the shingles. That collar is the boot. Its only job is to keep water from running down the pipe into your attic.
Why it fails
Rubber does not like Kentucky summers. After eight to twelve years of sun the collar dries, shrinks and splits along the top edge. Water follows the pipe straight down. Because the pipe usually sits above a bathroom, the first sign is a stain on the bathroom ceiling, and the first guess is always the shower.
How to spot one from the ground
Stand where you can see the pipe against the sky. Zoom in with your phone. A healthy boot looks smooth and black. A failed one shows a pale, cracked ring at the top, and sometimes the collar has slumped away from the pipe altogether.
What the repair involves
The old boot comes out, the shingles around it are lifted, a new boot goes in with the flange under the upper course and over the lower one, and the whole thing is sealed. It is a short job on a sound roof. We photograph the old boot, the new one, and the finished spot, and the price is on the report before we start.
The cheapest roof repair you will ever ignore
Left alone, a boot leak rots the decking around the pipe and soaks the insulation below. What starts as a small part becomes a decking patch, a drywall repair and a paint job. A free roof check catches it while it is still a boot.
Book your free roof check
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