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We have a roof leak. The inspector missed this when we bought the house, apparently. We discovered it a couple months after moving in (we moved in last April). It's an old house (1915)... and the leak is very sporadic. By that I mean it will rain and rain, no leak.. then the fifth or sixth rain, if it's heavy, we'll get some leaking through the ceiling but it only goes on for a few minutes then stops. We have a crack in the ceiling plaster now as a result.
So my question is, how can someone (repair person) find the source of the leak if it is not actively leaking when they come? If the home inspector missed it won't it be easy to miss again?
Is this likely to be expensive? The roof is fairly new.
1. Can it be found if it's not raining/leaking? Maybe. Staining and watermarks along the rafters might, but might not, get you back to the right spot.
2. If the home inspector missed it will it be easy to miss again? Maybe. Some home inspectors are skilled, others are not. There may or may not be evidence of the leak in the attic. Who knows if the inspector even went up there? Somebody has to go searching for it.
3. Is it likely to be expensive? Unknown. A competent craftsman has to find the leak, diagnose the problem, etc.
Good Luck!
Oh, by the way, I've never lived in a house newer than the 1940's. Our current home is about 100 years old. There are lots of things in antique houses that "modern day" home inspectors - and repairmen and builders - don't know anything about. Buy some magazines, educate yourself, poke around, read old books and articles, and make sure you know enough to be able to tell if you're getting the straight story from a craftsman.
1. Can it be found if it's not raining/leaking? Maybe. Staining and watermarks along the rafters might, but might not, get you back to the right spot.
2. If the home inspector missed it will it be easy to miss again? Maybe. Some home inspectors are skilled, others are not. There may or may not be evidence of the leak in the attic. Who knows if the inspector even went up there? Somebody has to go searching for it.
3. Is it likely to be expensive? Unknown. A competent craftsman has to find the leak, diagnose the problem, etc.
Good Luck!
Oh, by the way, I've never lived in a house newer than the 1940's. Our current home is about 100 years old. There are lots of things in antique houses that "modern day" home inspectors - and repairmen and builders - don't know anything about. Buy some magazines, educate yourself, poke around, read old books and articles, and make sure you know enough to be able to tell if you're getting the straight story from a craftsman.
Again, good luck!
Well the inspector was recommended to me as being an "old house guy", and he took quite a while on the inspection (several hours), and I have pics he took from inside the attic and up on the roof. He also inspected another house for us (older 2 story victorian) that we decided not to buy due to extensive plumbing and termite issues. So I kinda hoped he was thorough and it seemed like he was..
But thanks on the roof issue. We've been here just over a year and it has only actually leaked maybe 4 or 5 times and each time was short.. even when we had record nonstop rains last year (over 40 days straight if I remember right), it didn't leak! Weird!?
I just hate calling someone to come fix stuff. I am weird that way but I want to DIY everything. Just don't have the skills (yet).
On and off I have had trouble with our roof on the "uphill" side of the chimney. Really a chimney should meet the roof as part of the ridgeline, so it does not have an "uphill" side with a pocket that tends to hold water, is hard to seal.
I'd suggest you get on up there right away, maybe you can figure out where it's leaking. Might still be wet.
You might have to put a lawn sprinkler up on the roof and run it to get it to leak again so you can find it. Looks crazy but how else can you find the leak?
You might have to put a lawn sprinkler up on the roof and run it to get it to leak again so you can find it. Looks crazy but how else can you find the leak?
Between going in the attic to follow the water stain path and this water sprinkler trick, those are your two best options... The water from the sprinkler might have to run quite awhile.
Also, think back to the times it has leaked... has the wind been blowing a certian velocity/direction... could be a wind blown issue that won't show up with the sprinkler test....
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Same thing happened with my 1850's brick. Not every rain just random ones. I finally figured it out it was coming in at the chimney. The roof guy said that when they did the roof they didnt do the chimney flashing right. So if there was a hard driving rain it would force water under the flashing but if it was a gentle rain then nothing happened. Wouldnt hurt to check all your flashing.
This will sound strange but take a big knife and poke a hole in your ceiling where the leak is at. That way the water will drain out instead of soaking into the ceiling. I did this and I was able to save my ceiling. All I had to patch was the knife hole.
Sorry about the roof leak. Like others have said, it will likely be hard to find since it is sporatic.
The comments about the inspector seem to strike a nerve, since I am a home inspector.
So its a very old house. There may be countless stains in the attic, but they could be decades old.
It doesn't leak every time it rains, yet somehow the inspector should have found the leak, even though it probably wasn't raining when he did the inspection? And it's ony leaked a few times inthe last year and a half.
We (inspectors) are only in the house for a few hours, under usually only one type of weather condition. Someone has a problem a year and a half later and somehow the inspector "missed" it?
It's kind of like if someone writes one check out of a joint account a year ago, AND NOW THE ACCOUNT WON'T BALANCE!!!! It's got to be the fault of the guy that wrote that check a year ago. Of course, the account has balanced fine for the past 11 months.
Sorry for the thread drift.
By the way, I used to have a roof leak only when the wind blew from a certain direction. I finally went into the attic during a storm and finally located the source of the leak. In my case it was loose flashing.
I have had a similar, sporadic leak that turned out to be wind blown water in the ridge vent. Very easy and cheap to fix once identified.
water stains will be the best way to find it, and be aware it can run a long, long way along a hidden channel before becoming visible inside the attic so tracing it can be a pain sometimes.
I'm another guy who wants to know what the roof covering is.
Asphalt shingles, Wood shingles or shakes, etc?
It is easy to believe you can have a sneaky sporadic leak.
It may be as simple as a roofing or sheathing nail or two that have backed up through the shingles. That is common on old homes with board roofs. One nail hole can create a lot of damage over time, and it is quite believable that the inspector would overlook it.
Nail backed out and cut through shingle:
Nail pop on flashing, i.e., bad flashing work:
Or a shingle may have blown off.
Is the leak in the area of a plumbing vent through the roof?
The "boots" around the vent pipes often go bad, and a crack can open up and let water in. Plumbing boot, dramatic failure:
Ignorant chimney flashing, that could have popped loose after an inspection, and note that the brick is cracked and needs some attention too:
If your plaster is damaged, I would be aggressive about getting a roof repair guy on there soon. Often by the time you see damage in the living area, there is significant damage in the attic.
You might be surprised how easy it is to find, and still be understandable that it wasn't revealed during inspection.
Sometimes things change rapidly, and in all fairness, it may have developed after the inspector was on the roof.
And, if your repair dude shows up with a bucket of blackjack cement, tell him that someone needs him worse than you do...
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