It is easy to fix roof leaks on your own without hands-on experience. Below are a few tips to help you check and repair the most common roof leaks. Several leaks do not require much, except a few minutes to fix.
Roof leaks
If your house gets water stains extending through roofs or trickles down your house walls, a roof leak is to blame. Finding out the leak area comes under the most challenging part of fixing roof leaks, while the following steps are pretty straightforward. First, you must explore some simple tricks for finding and repairing the most common types of leaky roofs. Roof leaks require immediate attention, should be fixed as soon as possible, even if it does not result in many hindrances or you plan to get a new roof altogether. Leaks can lead to more significant issues in a short span. These problems may even include sheathing, ruined insulation, mold, destroyed framing, and disrupted ceiling.
Tracking down roof leaks
While figuring out the leak’s origin, you should begin by having a closer look at the stains on the uphill roof. Primarily it would help if you examine the roof penetrations. Things that penetrate the ceiling are most often the familiar origin of roof leaks. It is uncommon for leaks to form in open regions with uninterrupted shingles, including older roofs. Instead, penetrations often involve chimneys, roof vents, plumbing, or dormers that push through the ceiling. These can be many feet higher than the leak or can also possibly be left or right of the leak.
If the attic is accessible, it is one of the simplest ways to find a leak. Just go to the attic carrying a flashlight and search for the leak’s origin. Possible evidence can include black marks, water stains, or fungus. However, if accessing the attic is an issue, or your house has a vaulted ceiling, climbing your roof is the best option.
Tracking impossible leaks
Often a leak can be impossible to track down. You can seek expert help. Or climb up the rook, carrying a garden hose. Begin low and soak areas that are right above the leak. Seclude regions while running the hose. For instance, while washing the chimney, start with downhill, the sides, and the top. It would help if you kept the hose running for a few minutes on a single area before shifting to another. Ask the observer to inform once the leak appears.
Fixing the leak
Inevitable roof leaks can seem impossible to track down. And often, water appears at a farther spot on the ceiling. However, leaks on ceilings with a plastic barrier formed between the sheetrock and attic insulation can get tracked down by moving the insulation and checking the flow stains created on the wall. Sometimes, water can flow towards openings like light fixtures in the barrier. But, at the same time, someone can observe the leak from the house.
If you cannot locate flow stains, you can check the underside for shiners on the roof. A single nail missed through the framing member is called a shiner. In cases like these, the carpenter, while sheathing the top with the rafter, cut the nail. Moisture condenses on nails that might have escaped to the roof space from rooms below. In some instances, it is visible as you climb onto the loft on a freezing night. And if the leaky roof still is not spotted, maybe it is time to call the professionals. Benchmark Roofing & Restoration provides excellent solutions to all kinds of roofing and leak problems.
