Recently we had a Client that reached out to me, who was extraordinarily frustrated over a situation they were having with a leak.
At one point over the past several months, we had done a repair around a pipe that was penetrating through their roof.
This repair was beyond necessary as the sealant around this particular pipe had worn away and was clearly taking on water.
We repaired the issue stemming from around the pipe and assumed all was ok, until we received a frantic call that the leak had either returned or had never quite stopped leaking.
It was obvious to me at this point that there was more than one point of entry.
After revisiting the roof, we discovered quite a number of possibilities of where the leak “might” be coming in from and offered a ‘next step’ plan, as well as the ultimate recommendation of solving the problem once and for all, and installing a new roof entirely (for sure a hefty price tag, but worth the investment if it was able to happen).
Chasing leaks is not an easy task.
We always start with the most obvious entry point in accordance with where the exit point of the leak is being observed from and then proceed accordingly from there.
At some point, the process can definitely seem like shooting basketballs blindly.
When it comes to diagnosing leaks, there are only (2) surefire ways of conclusively neutralizing the situation:
1) Re-roofing entirely – essentially ripping the band-aid off – assuming that your roof is installed properly, this should absolutely fix any leak that is stemming from a roof area
2) Opening up ceilings, walls, etc. from down below and pinpointing the exact point of penetration from the inside out
Short of these two items, tracking down leaks is a methodical exercise that may take quite some time to positively nail down.
This is due to a variety of factors.
One such factor is that many times, multiple leaks can be occurring from different parts of your roof, but because of the way that gravity functions in-line with the way your home is constructed, they all exit from the same place.
This is why in instances where one knows there is a place where a leak is coming from and this area is fixed, the leak still shows its face.
As one might imagine, this is the point in time where head games might be played…
“Was this specific leak point fixed correctly?”
“If the leak was fixed correctly, how many other places are things leaking from?”
“Do I need a new roof?”
These are all very valid questions.
As one searches for solutions, ultimately there are very few choices in terms of paths to venture down.
You can either keep experimenting down the path of logic, hoping that pay dirt is hit and the leak is discovered and able to be fixed.
Or you can go the “drastic” route and either re-roof entirely or pinpoint things by taking areas apart from the inside and tracking the leaking area(s) down.
When it comes to nuisance leaks, no matter which path is ultimately taken, something certainly has to be done.
For not only can leaks be annoying to one’s psyche, but if they are not found and neutralized, they can lead to much bigger challenges down the road (rot, mold, etc.)!
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