roof leak -- advice

B

Brisketexan

1,000+ Posts
Discovered that we have a small roof leak in my daughter's room -- after last night's rain, there was a decent-sized wet spot on her carpet, and I could see the cracked and peeled spot on the ceiling. It isn't huge, but it will obviously get worse if I don't deal with it ASAP.

I haven't been able to get up in the attic to check yet. It's at a spot near, but not at the edge of the roofline -- probably 4 feet in from the edge. No seams or joints -- just a flat part of the roof. Presuming I can crawl over there and spot the leak, what sort of repair issues could I be looking at? I'll also obviously inspect it from the outside, once I isolate the spot, and do any fix that might be necessary there (and what kind of fix might that be?)

This is an isolated spot, and is pretty new -- my wife says she noticed a slight damp spot there last rain, and now it's a full-on wet spot. It doesn't appear to be an extensive issue, but I won't know for sure till I look.

If it is just an isolated leak, what are some of the appropriate interior and exterior fixes?
 
You need to take care of it immediately!!!!

As you have to figure that you have to have a considerable deal of wet insulation in your attack. It's raining like hell here in Austin, if possible I would try to get up in the attack while it is raining.

The other thing to consider is that OFTENTIMES the point where the leak shows through your ceiling is NOT directly below where the leak is occuring. Many times the leaking water will run down a beam before it begins to drip onto the insulation.

Without being in the attic during a deluge this is sometimes difficult to pinpoint the leadking spot. If there is a chimney or any other portrusion near the leak check the flashing aound the areas. You can seal any loose spots with the roofing tar you can get at home depot that you put into a gun.
 
Good thoughts. I'm absolutely going to tackle it before the next rain (which gives me only the next couple of days).

Good point on perhaps the leak being higher up and running down a beam. I figured that tracing its source will be my hardest task.

I had already planned on chucking a good amount of insulation, as that is surely wet.

The odd thing is, there are NO features of any significance anywhere near the leak -- it's about 3 feet from the edge of the roof, and there's nothing between it and the top ridge, which leads me to believe that it's a pinpoint type leak (of unknown size, of course).

So, roofing tar is the way to seal? Any other things to do, presuming I can find the leak and it's patchable?
 
Seal from the outside, not the attic. One way to do this is if you find a leak in the attic, pucj a nail up thru it so you can tell where on the roof you need to seal. A roof leak can run all the way from the ridge down to the eave. A leak in the middle of a fairly new roof is sometimes caused by hail which is an insured loss. Obviously, any flashing or penetration like a plumbing vent is a first look.
 
15 year old roof. No flashing in the area (I think -- trying to visualize right now). Obviously, the hard part will be nailing down the source.

How do you patch from the outside? Replacement shingle?
 
15 yo roof is going to be welded together and brittle. I'm assuming asphalt shingles. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are looking at an ugly patch of black or a new roof most likely.

If you patch it from the inside, the water has already made it thru the roof and into the decking, etc. It will probably find a new place to come out, but it will rot your decking if it doesn''t. Rotten decking isn't any death sentence, but it's better to avoid it. Once it gets thru the asphalt and into the paper and decking, it will come thru the path of least resistance. If you just plug that hole or seam in the decking, it will run under the paper to another hole or seam down lower.

Roof leaks can be tricky. I had a roofer working for 3 days to patch a leak in a roof it only took him one to install.
 
Lovely. I can't afford a new roof right now. Hell, it would be a stretch to afford a roofer just to do a patch job.

All I really want to do is buy some time -- 1-2 years.
 
15 years is a pretty decent life for roofs. See if you can find a roofer to give you a free estimate. Once they get up there, they may tell you that you have hail damage that you have insured against.

I hate roofs. I watched my father slide off of a roof and land face and shoulder first on the patio. I thought he had died. 3 weeks in the hospital. I won't go up on roofs any more.
 
Definitely follow the "patch it from the outside" advice.

If it's not raining you cah set up a sprinklet on the roof. One of those cheepy 2.99 metal puppys that just sprays is a good one to evenly saturate an area. Or you can annoy the **** out of your wife by having her squirt it with the hose in a manner so unevenly as to never find the leak...
frown.gif
 
Roof is approx 15 years old, maybe a couple older. As I understand, on MOST HO policies, once it hits that age, the insurer won't pay for a new roof on a hail-damage claim (exclusion to coverage) -- Nick, I defer to your wisdom on this: is that generally the case?
 
That was never a part of the insurance policy, but there existed an exclusion for normal wear and tear that contradicts the replacement cost provisions of the policy. I've never seen the issue explored in the courts. It gives the insurers freedom to act like it's a rule when it's really just a policy unique to each insurance company. A 30 year roof (which never lasts 30 years) ought to last you 15 more years. A 15 year roof you might expect to be failing. The key is to ascertain whether it's failing because it is worn out or because it is damaged. I'm both over and under complicating the issue. Sorry.

Bottom line is that you probably need the help of a roofer and a roofer may very well be able to help you establish that your roof has been damaged by an insurable peril. Give it a whirl.
 
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