Roof leak through bathroom vent?

[OldBoot]

House: 1991 Ardmore(made by Champion) DBLWide
Had home inspection prior to purchasing house.
We've only been living here 4 days now.
Well, it began the leaking after a pretty heavy snow storm. Roofs collapsed at retail stores in the area and hundreds, if not thousands of people had their own roof problems. I've applied Henry's 208R all around the vent and wherever I could manage to apply it through a caulking gun and pushed it into the crevices with a putty knife. I'm not sure if it actually sealed the leak after I sealed it. It then rained lightly and there was no leaking. It now is raining heavily and has been for at least eight or so hours. It now is leaking pretty steadily.
In the picture of the inside the two tears are new and were formed during the leaking the first time and the current leaking. It seems that it's coming from around the area of the actual vent.
Sorry for the pictures being so massive, but I figured this way the any detail can be seen better. I really appreciate any feedback, I don't really know what else to do other and put more tar around the same areas I've already tarred. I have practically no home repair experience

[Greg]

Hi & welcome. When you have heavy snow fall, all bets are off when it comes to leaks. ANY small crack in caulk could be a leak, the leak could even be the vent it's self. If the snow is deep enough to cover it, it may as well be under water, it will come through.

Your best bet is to keep the roof clear of snow. A roof rake works great for this, you can work from the ground and pull the snow off. The weight of the snow can create problems by it's self.

When things dry out take another close look. Greg

[OldBoot]

Thanks for the reply Greg.
The pictures were taken today, and the snow has been gone for days now completely off the roofs and roads. When the snow was on the roof, there was no leaking, it was after the snow began to melt from rain and then run off the roof when the leaking began. So it seems as if maybe the snow broke or loosened or cracked something like you say and now the rain comes through.
I have looked at it, but what if the leak is under a shingle, or under the vent or under some of the tar caulking?
Any ideas? we just bought the house outright and are strapped for cash so we cannot really afford to bring in a professional.

[Greg]

Perhaps JD 0r others will have some ideas for you. Greg

[flcruising]

You need to get a good eye at it from the underside of the roof itself, then you can be sure of where it originates. Can you remove the bathroom vent fan box and inspect the area?

[Dean2]

How about removing it from the roof completly? Patch the hole well,match the shingles close as possible,,then,,put a new powered vent in the exterior wall of the bathroom. If that is under an eve overhang all the better. Use a good vent so it doesn't "breathe" when it isn't switched on.

When snow/ice melts and refreezes damming can occur and actually push ice uphill. It is hard to tell the roof pitch from the pics but the less the pitch the easier it is for ice/water to push upward. If there is blackjack built up near the bottom,making even a slight dam,that could add to the problem too. If the area around the vent is sealed through to the roof deck,any leak from higher up the roof runs down the tarpaper,under the shingles, and is stopped at the vent to gather and leak.

If You can find a solution,great,if not,maybe try the wall vent.

[steve]

It looks to me like you have to change the exhast fan anyway so pull it out and you can check the underside of roof as Dean said. That type of vent is common to have ice dams backfeed the exhaust hole. One solution (in the spring or better weather) is to build a 2 x 4 curb, flash that and put vent on top or look
for a vent that has a longer "neck" Remember,
The leak could be from somewhere else (like that vent stack) and coming in at the fan box

[Dean2]

Steve! A curb! That should do the trick nicely! Wish I'da thoughta that! Whatever is done it has to be layered up so it sheds water like the shingles themselves do. skylights have curbs and,if installed well,they don't leak,a poorly done one will have the same problems tho.

That is if it is left in the roof,I kind of still agree with putting it in the wall.I don't remember where I saw/heard that idea but I do like it. The less items poking thru the roof,the better.

[OldBoot]

It's funny, while on top of the roof I looked around at the other manufactured houses around us and nobody else has this type of vent, or much less seems to even have one that looks partly like this. Well, it rained since I did the last heavy patching around it and on it and at first it was not leaking, but it rained heavily today and a lot of wind blowing, a lot of wind blowing, and I think it either sprung a new leak, or it's the same leak or maybe it's from rain blowing into the vent in sideways? but it's leaking again, not as much as before, but it's doing it.

Could it be from the rain being blowing into the vent? I heard water/droplets hitting plastic while I stood under the bathroom vent.
At this point, I'm thinking of trying to buy something I can brush on the roof around the two vents to try and seal this up.