Roofing in Seattle is what the long wet season does to a slope that never quite dries. Moss lifts tabs. Cedar litter fills valleys on Wallingford and Ravenna roofs until water runs sideways into a wall. Skylights and chimney flashing show up as ceiling stains in craftsman plaster. Newer townhouses with low or flat roofs hold water against a parapet instead of shedding it. The dry stretch in summer is real, and it is the window when a deck can actually be seen. Leaks still introduce themselves in November.
Look from the sidewalk and from the attic hatch if you can do that safely. Grit in the gutter, a dark streak under an eave, daylight at a nail, damp insulation. Say whether the drip shows up in any steady rain or only when wind pushes water uphill, the way it does on exposed West Seattle and Magnolia faces. A patch over a soft deck is a pause, not a finish. Name the room under the stain.
Say what the surface is. Cedar shakes still cover plenty of older houses and they wear out differently from composition. A low roof on a new infill fails at the seam and the drain, not in a field of tabs. Ask about tear-off, the deck, the underlayment, and how the attic is supposed to breathe, because a damp attic in this city rots from above while the street view still looks fine. Gutters that overflow into the fascia are part of the roof, not a separate hobby.
If a claim is open, keep the roof facts and the policy facts from blurring. Photos from the ground matter. Do not walk a slick mossy slope to get a better story. Name the neighborhood, the shape of the roof, and whether limbs or only age and rain are involved.
Seattle will be wet again before a vague plan becomes a dry attic. Call with the symptom and the week it started. Call the number on this page.