Be presistant but business like with contractor and let him know you are not letting him off the hook. I think he will have his subs fix it,if not,small claims is there for this type thing.

Depends entirely on any warranty language and provisions based on your contract with him on the roof side of things. Many roof repairs are only good for 90 days and only on serviced items. When you get into repairing roofs, it is a slippery slope because the roof is usually done poorly or worn out with the exception of some sort of mechanical damage repair. As such, it is tough to cover some else's entire field of work. The reality is that a leak could be coming from upstream the roof and manifesting at the chimney because that is the low point in the roof.

Keep us posted how it turns out.

" The reality is that a leak could be coming from upstream the roof and manifesting at the chimney because that is the low point in the roof."

I agree with the assertion but if that is the case,the contractor was paid to fix the leak. Useing that for why contractor isn't responsible for the continued leak is bs. 75% of a professional's job is "finding the root cause". In the fields of hvac and car repair we call that throwing parts at it until it's fixed or customer run's out of money.

Unlike most home repairs, roof leaks can be very difficult to diagnose and repair. So much so that I'd never be in that business. Everyone needs to chill. Give them a chance to perform another repair and make sure it doesn't leak before finishing.

One problem with roof leaks is the homeowner usually only sees the most obvious leak. Fix that problem and you may find that a secondary leak now becomes visible. Or, the roof leak is still there but the entrance path of the water into the interior has been changed by the repair work. If prior questionable workmanship causes a problem in one area, chances are high that similar issues are also present in other areas, just not yet obvious. It is likely that the underlying condition of the roof is more responsible for the new leak than improper repair work in another area.

Because roof leaks are notoriously difficult to find and repair in one go, the discussion about what happens if the repair doesn't solve the problem should occur before the initial work is started. Many contractors (especially the less experienced!) are very confident of their skills and don't even consider the possibility of not being successful so negotiating up front is often more favorable to the homeowner. My view is a customer shouldn't have to pay for the same repair twice unless he was specifically warned that the original work would be a carefully applied band-aid but could not be guaranteed.

My partner was involved in a similar situation this past summer. He and his roofing buddy decided that the problem was some improper flashing around a dormer and they fixed that problem and then the interior wall and ceiling. However, the next major rain storm occurred and they found that the first repair was needed, but another leak appeared. My partner charged her for the materials and very small amount for labor for the additional work on the other roof issue. He didn't charge for fixing the wall since that was work she had already paid for with the first repair.

klem1,

Even if the contractor did a fantastic job identifying the leaks, a "beyond its prime" roof and grow new leaks and show up where you completed your repair. Depending on the condition of the roof, we may not issue any warranty if the recommendation is to replace the roof ASAP.

Just wanted to thank everyone for all of the helpful comments and provide a bit of an update. Our roof is only 9 years old and presumably of good quality. We have certainly had it repaired/inspected at any sign of problems so it had not gone neglected under our watch.

Anyway, our contractor had both the previous roofer and a stucco guy come out (since our chimney is stucco). Apparently they found some cracks in the stucco that may or may not be letting in water and about 1/4-1" gaps between chimney and roof material. They decided to just caulk the gaps and see whether that solves the problem. We have had one rain since the repair and no sign of leakage.

Going back to my question in the original thread, I personally consider this gap between chimney and roof something that should have been at least noticed when the roofers did their original work in the vicinity of the chimney. I have not been given any explanation for why this area is just now being noticed and caulked.

I've decided to wait another few rains before doing any repair work to make sure we've got the leaks fixed. I think I am just going to suck it up and pay for any repairs myself. Appears to be mostly paint touchups, although honestly the whole master ceiling would probably need to be repainted to get a perfect color match. I'm just at a disadvantage to prove that this is something the roofers should have caught the first time, and the secondary repairs aren't big enough to break the bank. Thank you all for your input!!!

Caulk is not a tool.

It's a cosmetic.

+1

Any caulk only repair is destined to fail at a later date. Metal flashing is always a better solution at roof to wall or roof to chimney interfaces. Any pictures?

Caulk has its uses, but not as a substitute for mechanical flashing.

Thanks all for your follow-up comments! My last comment probably wasn't phrased very well. I did discuss the potential need to replace flashing with the contractor. My understanding is the caulk is a troubleshooting tool at this point since they couldn't tell whether it is the stucco cracks causing the problem or the flashing around chimney. Unfortunately I don't have any photos and I wasn't there when contractor inspected. Our house is quite large, so I am definitely not getting up there myself and have no choice but to rely on these guys and their opinions. (By the way, this is second roofing company I've had up there. Before leak, I had a different roofing company not affiliated with contractor to inspect roof and he insisted he found no problems).

The caulk on flashing did seem to fix the problem, which points to flashing, but we're supposed to get another rain today, so we'll see. I really need another heavy rain like the one that started this latest problem. It's amazing to me that roof leaks are so hard to diagnose and that problems aren't always apparent from a visual inspection.

I'm wondering why a 9 yr old roof has had repairs unless you are in a very windy or rainy area. I'm in Ca & I repaired 1 edge of my old roof after a terrific storm but it was 20 yrs old. I put on at least 30 yr shingles. when I replaced it. Is the chimney in a strange meeting of 2 roof slants or something? If your shingles are only 20 yr shingles the roof maybe going. Or are they asphalt shingles or those tiles which are more difficult to repair?