It Might Not Be Your Roof That Leaks

We had a pretty aggressive hurricane season last year and with spring starting, it seems like a discussion of leaks might be helpful right now.

A leak doesn't always show itself with a dramatic interior downpour that has you running for a bucket. Usually discoloration is the first sign that there might be a problem. Right away most people suspect a leak in the roof.  In our experience, however, the roof turns out to be the culprit only about 20% of the time.  Water can seep in around any siding, roofing, windows or trim, in short, anywhere there is a penetration of the exterior of your home.

Several calls we have received over the past months were from leaks caused, not by faulty roofs as the homeowners first thought, but by overflowing gutters.  Let's think for a minute what your gutter system does. The gutter on the upper part of the home catches the water as it comes off the roof.  It diverts the water to a downspout or leader pipe which "leads" the water away from the home. 

The average size of a roof on an average size home in this area is about 2,000 square feet.  If we get an inch of rain from a sudden squall, think about the volume of water that is coming off your roof.  All that water is directed into the gutter system which flows into the leaders and, hopefully, away from your foundation.  Do you know the dimensions of the average leader pipe?  Residential downspouts measure 2" x 3". The hole cut in the gutter to attach the downspout is usually no more than 2 inches.  Think again and get a mental picture of all that water rushing into a 2 inch hole.  If there are any obstructions like leaves, sticks, golf balls or tennis balls, the gutter will certainly overflow. One blockage is all it takes.  All this overflowing water can cause a multitude of problems with windows, window sills, doors and siding.  A simple check of the gutters and leaders during the fall when the leaves are coming down can avoid a hassle later on.

Another common cause of leaks is wind-driven rain penetrating through improperly installed windows.  All double hung windows dating back to Colonial times were designed with a pitched window sill to divert water to the exterior.  Maintaining this pitch with the new installation of windows and trim is critical to prevent back flow of water into the window frame.  We have been called to many jobs where we had to remove windows, reset them correctly and repair the water damage below the window caused by the improper installation.  There is a great deal of advance prep work that needs to be done to the window frame and frame opening prior to actually installing the window so that it ends up right at the end.  It is not as simple as just pulling out a dozen windows on your home and popping them all back in in one day.  Those bargain windows may not turn out to be such a bargain in the long run.

Another problem can be seen around the bottom of your window sills on the interior.  This is not an area that most people spend a lot of time looking at, so the problem can go unnoticed for some time.  Water infiltrates in this area through siding and trim that is not properly caulked or caulked too sparingly.  In addition, all that pretty snow that collects on your window sills starts to melt from the bottom because of the heat that is escaping around the bottom of the window.  This ends up with snow melt seeping into your home.

One interesting leak we were called to address turned out to be the lights and outlets installed on the outside of the home.  It wasn't the roof at all.  We have learned that we have to look beyond the obvious sometimes to get the right result for the homeowner.

Finally, what happens if it actually is your roof that is leaking?  If you have a leak and suspect your roof, obvious signs to look for are missing shingles, curled or buckled shingles, or shingles that have changed drastically from their original color.  Other roof problems can usually be found around roof penetrations such as vent pipes, air vents, dormers, chimneys or antennas.  Any sealing or flashing that was done when the roof was installed can degrade over time.  Imagine the effect of years and years of temperature fluctuations from 0 to 100 degrees? If your skin were the roof...you get the picture. 

It is always a good idea to consult an expert when you have a situation involving a leak at your home. A DYI fix sometimes makes the situation worse.  Let's hope for a spring full of blue skies.