Hey all,
I bought a home a grand total of 3 weeks ago. The house is a tudor-style front, colonial 2-story. And I now have a leak in my foyer.
Now, before reading on, please understand that I recognize I cannot fully convey the angles and positioning involved in this leak. What I will be asking for here is tips on how roof flashing SHOULD be looking/working and where to attack next.
House inspection
Our home inspector was superb: spent 3 hours going over the house with us (did our previous home too).The roof is 15 years old, but is in fantastic shape. He literally said it could be 5 years old, and I believe him after crawling all over it myself.
The faux wood trim to give it the tudor look however is in the initial stages of degradation. Needs a fresh coat of paint, and plenty of areas show that water is being absorbed into the wood trim, drip caps, etc.....they are soft/spongy. Nothing that would indicate a quart of water is wicking into the house though.
The ATTIC itself is bone dry, despite several hard non-stop 10+ hour rains. It covers a good portion of the house and is not a full attic, but can be walked through by stooping over
The Leak
Several days ago, after a night of hard rain. I found a drip coming from the ceiling. I immediately cut a 2x2' square of drywall out to track the leak and dry out the area.
Unfortunately, the leak is coming THROUGH 2 2x6 joists that are bound together. Directly above the joist is 2" wide hardwood subflooring. The house is 35 years old.
Above the subflooring is, to the best of my knowledge, an angled roof area and several exterior walls meeting together.
Actions so far
On Sunday, I went up on the roof and inspected everything. Shingles look great. Flashing looked a little bent (as in, water wouldn't immediately roll downhill). I hammered down all nails that were exposed and caulked every seam I could find that was previously caulked or LOOKED like it should've been caulked. I used about 4 tubes of caulk, and that almost entirely on the front of the house. I took my time and ran pretty clean beads too. I caulked expose nail heads too.
Today, it poured again. Leak took awhile to work through all the dried out wood, but appears to be leaking the same amount.
Next steps
I've got some ideas at this point, but i'd like tips from people with greater roofing experience (I've never nailed down a shingle in my life).
1. I can use an angle grinder or an appropriate wood cutting tool to cut out the subfloor. I've never cut subfloor from beneath, so i'd like confirmation that this is an ok route to help try to further track down the leak. The truth is that the leak LOOKS obvious but I can't see beyond that subflooring. It SEEMS impossible based upon the surrounding construction, lack of water signs anywhere else, etc....but if it's OK to cut through subflooring into an area that looks like an attic space, then I think it would be wise to confirm the location of the leak.
2. Take a pry bar up onto the roof and start pulling off the faux tudor-style trim boards on the siding to determine if water is penetrating straight through the wood. If it looks good, re-nail the board and caulk around the edges.
3. The flashing lining the 2nd story where it meets the first in the front of the house is angled weird. Instead of laying flat onto the lower shingles, it's raised up off the shingles about 1/4-1/2". The pitch there is easy to walk on, but it's definitely pitched downwards, so I'd think gravity would take care of it....but perhaps this is the cause.
The flashing is recessed under wood on the wall and on top of shingles on the lower roof. To pull it out, I'm guessing I would need to pop off most of the wall. This seems like an area where a professional might be better....
I'm looking for tips here....there's nothing obvious jumping out at me from the outside. Everything has been caulked....
Thanks all,
Joe
I bought a home a grand total of 3 weeks ago. The house is a tudor-style front, colonial 2-story. And I now have a leak in my foyer.
Now, before reading on, please understand that I recognize I cannot fully convey the angles and positioning involved in this leak. What I will be asking for here is tips on how roof flashing SHOULD be looking/working and where to attack next.
House inspection
Our home inspector was superb: spent 3 hours going over the house with us (did our previous home too).The roof is 15 years old, but is in fantastic shape. He literally said it could be 5 years old, and I believe him after crawling all over it myself.
The faux wood trim to give it the tudor look however is in the initial stages of degradation. Needs a fresh coat of paint, and plenty of areas show that water is being absorbed into the wood trim, drip caps, etc.....they are soft/spongy. Nothing that would indicate a quart of water is wicking into the house though.
The ATTIC itself is bone dry, despite several hard non-stop 10+ hour rains. It covers a good portion of the house and is not a full attic, but can be walked through by stooping over
The Leak
Several days ago, after a night of hard rain. I found a drip coming from the ceiling. I immediately cut a 2x2' square of drywall out to track the leak and dry out the area.
Unfortunately, the leak is coming THROUGH 2 2x6 joists that are bound together. Directly above the joist is 2" wide hardwood subflooring. The house is 35 years old.
Above the subflooring is, to the best of my knowledge, an angled roof area and several exterior walls meeting together.
Actions so far
On Sunday, I went up on the roof and inspected everything. Shingles look great. Flashing looked a little bent (as in, water wouldn't immediately roll downhill). I hammered down all nails that were exposed and caulked every seam I could find that was previously caulked or LOOKED like it should've been caulked. I used about 4 tubes of caulk, and that almost entirely on the front of the house. I took my time and ran pretty clean beads too. I caulked expose nail heads too.
Today, it poured again. Leak took awhile to work through all the dried out wood, but appears to be leaking the same amount.
Next steps
I've got some ideas at this point, but i'd like tips from people with greater roofing experience (I've never nailed down a shingle in my life).
1. I can use an angle grinder or an appropriate wood cutting tool to cut out the subfloor. I've never cut subfloor from beneath, so i'd like confirmation that this is an ok route to help try to further track down the leak. The truth is that the leak LOOKS obvious but I can't see beyond that subflooring. It SEEMS impossible based upon the surrounding construction, lack of water signs anywhere else, etc....but if it's OK to cut through subflooring into an area that looks like an attic space, then I think it would be wise to confirm the location of the leak.
2. Take a pry bar up onto the roof and start pulling off the faux tudor-style trim boards on the siding to determine if water is penetrating straight through the wood. If it looks good, re-nail the board and caulk around the edges.
3. The flashing lining the 2nd story where it meets the first in the front of the house is angled weird. Instead of laying flat onto the lower shingles, it's raised up off the shingles about 1/4-1/2". The pitch there is easy to walk on, but it's definitely pitched downwards, so I'd think gravity would take care of it....but perhaps this is the cause.
The flashing is recessed under wood on the wall and on top of shingles on the lower roof. To pull it out, I'm guessing I would need to pop off most of the wall. This seems like an area where a professional might be better....
I'm looking for tips here....there's nothing obvious jumping out at me from the outside. Everything has been caulked....
Thanks all,
Joe