How To Find A Water Leak In Your Roof

Sure it s easy enough to spot water stains on the ceiling or mold growth sure signs of a leak.

How to find a water leak in your roof.

The other person goes inside the attic with a bucket and a strong light. A lot of times it s simply locating the problem. How to water test your roof for leaks. Again practice safety first.

The source of a leak often isn t obvious on the roof itself and it can be hard to pinpoint since the water may run down the roof decking and rafters before dripping onto the ceiling below. If you can t find the cause of a leak from the attic or by visual inspection on the roof surface wait for dry weather and ask a friend to help you do a water test. Looking for roof leaks on the outside of your house. Have a helper stationed in the attic with a flashlight.

Roof leaks follow the path of least resistance which makes them difficult to find when you don t know where to look. Water frequently enters the house near things that go through the roof. The other person will be inside the attic watching the area for water leaks. To do this one person goes onto the roof with a garden hose.

And fixing a leaky roof can be less time consuming than locating where the water is coming in. Excess rainwater or snowmelt with no downspout to flow through will eventually seep through your roof and walls resulting in leaks. Sometimes the water shows up at a ceiling spot distant from the leak. Some roof leaks are tough to locate.

Roof leaks can be cause by missing shingles gaps in the metal flashing around chimneys and vent pipes or small holes in the roofing. Learning how to find a roof leak is easy but accomplishing the task can be frustrating. If you notice that eaves or downspouts are clogged remove the clogging material pine needles leaves etc and restore the flow of water. If your ceiling has a plastic vapor barrier between the drywall and the attic insulation push the insulation aside and look for flow stains on the plastic often water runs to openings in the vapor barrier such as at ceiling light fixtures.

Run the water over the place where you think the leak might be located. Find a friend to help with the roof leak test. The structure of an asphalt shingle roof makes it even more difficult because. Projections or penetrations such as vents dormers and chimneys are frequent places for leaks.

Water testing for roof leaks. The hardest part of fixing a roof leak. Be sure to start small. If you don t want to wait for rain to look for the leak try bringing the garden hose up on the roof.