My Roof is Leaking?

February 11th, 2009 — Consumer Roof Info

You have stains on your ceiling. Water is dripping from a recessed light fixture. Your chimney has wet masonry. A stream of water is running down your wall or dripping from a window well.

If any of these events are happening in your home you must have a roof leak, right? An appointment with a roofer is made. He checks the roof and tells you that some patch work will remedy the situation. The work is done, the roofer is paid but you have the same problem the next time there is a rain storm.

What happened? There are a number of problems other than those associated with your roof that can cause moisture to enter your home.

Leakage can occur when wood or vinyl siding has been damaged, has worn out or was improperly installed. Wind driven rain can force water past the siding where it gets behind the flashing and into the roof system.

Masonry wall or chimney leaks can occur when these components deteriorate due to long term exposure the weather. The mortar can break loose from the bricks or even fall out allowing moisture to be forced into the structure where it runs down and can show up inside the home. Concrete block walls can be come porous and absorb water. These conditions can show up much earlier if the masonry work was not done correctly.

Mechanical intrusion is another source of leaks. Holes in rusted vent pipes can allow water access.

Satellite dishes, antennas, lightning rod systems or xmas decorations with fasteners that pierce the roof can leak if not sealed properly.

Many homes have flat roof sections. If you have an HVAC unit on a flat section of your roof, leaky duct work can allow moisture to enter the home.

Affordable Roofing has also encountered some apparent roof leaks that don’t even originate at the roof level! We have found that second story windows with caulking that has deteriorated or frames that have split open can produce “roof leaks” on the first floor.

There have been several instances where a vent pipe installed thru a wall on an upper floor has admitted water and produced a leak condition on a lower floor. We have responded to leak calls that have been broken water pipes, leaking bathtubs and even dripping HVAC units located in attics!

So why didn’t my roofer find the problem? A roofer can buy a pickup truck, air compressor and hoses, some ladders, roof hooks and boards. Add in a Yellow Page ad and minimum insurance coverage, he can open business as a roofing contractor.

With this relatively small investment and low overhead it is easy to bid jobs at a low number and offer a long time warranty. Unfortunately there is no guarantee for what quality of skill, experience or integrity you are going to get if you employ some of these “contractors”.

Always get as much history and information as you can on a perspective contractor before you make a decision. A competent, experienced roofing contractor will see these additional problems and ultimately end up costing less.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 2:27 pm and is filed under Consumer Roof Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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3 Comments so far

  1. Adrian Tansley on February 26, 2009 12:29 pm

    Brilliant blog – there should be more roofing blogs!

  2. chuck on April 30, 2009 11:35 am

    As a long time roofing pro, I can say that the roof is “guilty until proven innocent”.

    It is our responsibilty to locate the cause of these leaks and inform the homeowner. If it is a roof leak then great, most of us can fix that easily enough.

    Homeowners need to be realistic also. If it hasn’t rained in 3 months, it ain’t no roof leak.

    Just my opinion.

  3. Roof Info Staff on April 30, 2009 11:56 am

    We like the guilty until proven innocent philosophy!

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