Why is water pooling on my new shingle roof?
Water pools because contractors improperly install shingles on sections with too shallow of a pitch instead of using proper flat roofing materials. This causes standing water to accumulate on the bottom rows or between the ridge and chimney, leaving homeowners stuck with an expensive but defective roof.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Why is water pooling on my new shingle roof?
- 1Checking if the drip edge is sitting on top of the gutter hangers and wedging the shingles.Did this help you?
- 2Monitoring the area for moisture damage if an ice and water shield was installed.Did this help you?
- 3Measuring the slope with a pitch gauge app and demanding the roofer replace the section with flat roofing material like modified bitumen.Did this help you?
- 4Building a cricket or saddle to divert water around the chimney.Did this help you?
- 5Using a single continuous piece of metal for the back pan instead of a caulked seam.Did this help you?
- 6Calling the roofing contractor back to fix the unacceptable workmanship.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I recently hired a roofing company to replace the roof on my house, detached garage, shed, and ADU. They also replaced my skylights. It was stupid expensive. I was up there today blowing off leaves and discovered standing water between the ridge and chimney.”source ↗
“My roof had the exact same problem and that exact solution!”source ↗
“When cleaning off my roof, I noticed that water pools on the bottom row of shingles on this section of the roof.”source ↗
“This section actually did not have shingles before the new roof was installed but had flat roof material.”source ↗
“Is it a problem to have water pooling like this, and if so, what can be done to fix it?”source ↗
“A lot, but I don’t think that’s really the point. I just want a working roof.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 12Water leaking from roof corners and sidewalls
- 16How to fix a dipping flat roof that collects standing water
- 5How to stop roof runoff from missing the gutter and hitting the deck
- 3Will grass fix water pooling in yard after regrading?
- 16How to stop roof water from overflowing and rotting the window sill
- 8Water leaking behind new gutters and soffits