I purchased my home 8 months ago and today during a storm I noticed small puddles pooling and a leak dripping down my ceiling. It’s not a traditional roof and more like a balcony on top which is accessible through one of the bedrooms. It’s easily accessible and am wondering if I can seal the edges of the balcony with some kind of product when the rain stops? What kind of product can that be?
You just have to re-seal the roof. As with everything in construction, it's all about the prep. Make sure to clean the roof well, if you can, with a pressure washer. Scrape any loose flakes from the previous application, and let dry completely. And make sure there's no rain in the forecast in the next couple of days before you apply it, and apply it between 12noon and 3pm.
I've sealed roofs with both silicone-based and elastomeric sealants. Silicone is better, but if the previous treatment was elastomeric, it might not adhere well. Elastomeric works too, and it's cheaper. I prefer the elastomeric because the price allows me to afford second and third coats a few months later when necessary. They work the same in terms of sealing the roof, but silicone will last longer.
On a my flat roof I use silicone-based coating.
Your whole area can use new coat.
The product I used is the Henry Tropi-Cool White Silicone Roof Coating 4.75 gal bit pricey but a good product.
And very happy with it
No primer needed
Note: I don't feel fully qualified to answer this, but I'd like to offer some additional thoughts on fixing this.
While it may be sufficient to coat or apply some kind of sealant locally where you suspect the leak (i.e. the corners or edges where the roof meets the wall), I'd be reluctant to only suggest that, as this may trap the water or cause it to enter the building somewhere else where it goes unnoticed for a while.
As that may lead to serious health risks - either from "just" growing mold or weakening the construction which could eventually catastrophically fail, I would make sure the leak is actually where you think it is and that there is not more damage behind the ceiling or in the walls.
So I'd expect that repairing this should involve opening the ceiling and/or the roof to find out where exactly the leak is and fix that.
The flat-roof constructions I know usually have EPDM flashing/rubber or some other kind of water-proof membrane and require adequate slope-drainage with proper flashing details to prevent water entering the building. There are also liquid plastic products for sealing flat-roofs which appear to be very durable (see https://www.flachdachsanierung.net/en-gb for an example; I have no connections to that company or experience with that).
