If your roof is leaking and you can't figure out what the reason is, then you might want your roofer to check the turbine vent on your roof. Not every roof has one of these vents, but if your roof has one, it's a potential source of a roof leak. Here's a look at how a turbine roof vent works and the repairs that might be needed when it leaks.

How A Turbine Vent Works

A turbine vent is installed on your roof to protect against heat damage to your shingles from an overheated attic. The vent has blades in it that spin when the wind blows, and this pulls air out of your attic to help keep your attic cool.

The vent protrudes through your roof and is sealed with flashing and roofing cement or caulk. Even though the vent is open to the outside, rain stays out because the blades turn and push the water away. If rain leaks in, it's a sign something is wrong with the vent.

How A Roof Vent Leak Is Repaired

A leak around a roof vent could require a number of different roof repairs, depending on the exact nature of the problem. For instance, if something stops the blades from spinning, rain can get blown through the opening. This might happen if a tree branch or other debris gets jammed in the blades, and then the problem can be fixed by cleaning out the vent.

Since the turbine vent doesn't use electricity, it will only stop working if there is a mechanical problem, such as when the bearings go bad or the internal parts rust. When this happens, the vent needs to be replaced with a new one.

A turbine vent doesn't always need to be replaced when there is a leak around it. In some cases, the problem is with the flashing or sealant. If the flashing is rusted, it needs to be replaced. If the sealant is bad, the roofer can dig all the old sealant out and put in new sealant to block roof leaks.

If the leak around the vent has gone on for a long time, you might need more extensive roof repairs. The roofer may pull up the shingles surrounding the vent to get a look at the deck. Since a vent is usually at the top of your roof, water may have rolled down the deck and caused water damage in a widespread area.

The roofer will lift shingles to expose all the rotted area so the bad deck can be cut out and replaced with new decking. Your roof might also need new underlayment and new shingles in the area that was affected by water damage. Like any other type of roof leak, the amount of roof repairs you need depends on the amount of water damage the roof received.

For more information about roof repairs, contact a local roofer.