Water – How to locate and repair a leak on a flat roof

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I recently experienced a roof leak on a heavy raining day in the east coast.
Picture 1: This is the interior ceiling.

I tore open the ceiling sheetrock and could see that water was dripping from the horizontal wood beams. When I checked with a flashlight between the horizontal beams I can see a tiny hole on the black material (above the beams). Water was leaking from that tiny hole.

Picture 2 : This is the outside/exterior roof of my building from where the water is coming in.

I am assuming its right under the red shingles but not exactly sure.
How do I exactly know where is the leak/hole from outside ?
I guess once I find the hole I can patch it up with flashing cement.

Any advice on what is the best way to fix this leak.
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Thanks in advance.

Best Answer

Clearly this has been a problem for a while and also the standing water and patch job on the flat section of the roof is to blame.

There is no real shortcut here, as you can see, so the solution is to remove the roofing, repair the water damage, and then have it re-roofed properly. There are ways to apply a flat roof so that it will not leak but slathering it with roof patch is not one of them.

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