Roofing leaks?

8 years ago

Hi, I just did an inspection of my attic because we seem to have a leaks. I found a few spots where the water was dripping in but what surprised me is a lot the nails had water drops on them.

I have read a lot of people say this is caused by condensation, but the attic appears to be well vented. I live in Vancouver BC and it rains a lot here. The temperature in the attic is well below the rest of the house (I'd say 8 to 10C). I could see my breath. The temp outside right now is about 5C. It didn't seem to be condensation.

The roof was installed in 2006 and we had leaks by 2010. They have continued to occur each rainy season.

My though is improper roof installation and not condensation for nails. Just wanted some other opinions?

Thanks!

Featured Answer

User

8 years ago

Could be both. Do you have ice dams in the winter? That would point to inadequate insulation in the attic which could allow moisture from the home to migrate into the attic. Also, if the valleys and penetrations weren't flashed properly, you could also have leaks. Your best bet is to get a licensed and insured professional roofer to take a look. Not some handyman who works on the side. Be prepared to need an all new roof.

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Comments (6)

Justin Eady
Original Author
8 years ago
No ice dams. When goes below 0 here it tends to be dry. Normal is around 5 and rain. The only time I go up in attic is to inspect leaks when raining. I will be check it out when dry too.

Also, roof is simple two sider... no valleys... flashing I can see looks fine or at least the part I inspected by the chimney.

The nails that are leaking are isolated to certain portions of the roof.... about half of the North/West facing side and some of the South/West. The North/East and South/East sides looks ok.

The roof is technically under warranty still. We had the roofers out 3 times before. They are coming back again to look at this current leak.

I had the thought of new roof too :-(

Thanks for input.
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PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
8 years ago
Go for the warranty for the installers. When weather proofing isn't followed properly, then this happens. The moisture finds its way to the nail and then the nail allows the water to move from the outside to the inside.

You may have to get an independent inspector in here to deal with this. An 11 year old roof in Vancouver (let's face it...that's not "tough" to deal with for a roof) that has this happen every 'rainy season' (???isn't that every day other than 2 months in Summer?) is too much.

I would get an independent roofing inspector in there to give you a "whats what" with this job. Here's a nice looking link to a company that is part of the Roofing Contractors Association of BC and an accredited roofing inspector...and part of the BBB.

http://www.bcroofinspections.com/

You've been mucking around with the roofing company for 11 years. Time to get this thing inspected. They've had their chance to fix it. Now get professionals in to tell you where the installers went wrong.
Justin Eady
Original Author
8 years ago

Thanks for the reply. I did more checking and it appears the sheeting is wet in a lot of those areas too. Dripping in from way too many place to count!

Will get a roof inspector for sure. I appreciate the feedback.
PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
8 years ago
Good luck. Keep us posted.
PRO
Applied Roofing Services
7 years ago
I think you should ask the roofing company who had got the roof done. What I think is, that this is a case of faulty installation. You should either ask the company to get this rectified if you still have the warranty period left or call in any other reputed roofing company for the purpose. Hope everything is sorted out soon. Do share your experience later on. Thanks.

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