There's a Hole in My Roof
(Page 2 of 4)
September/October 1990
by Jeff Taylor
Like medicine, fixing a leak requires diagnosis and treatment, in that order. So let's find the leak first. You won't need tools for the first inspection.
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But you will need to get on the roof. Set up an extension ladder the same way you'd pack your own parachute, i.e., slowly and perfectly. Ideally, you'll use an industrial grade ladder, with big feet and sturdy rungs. The bottom should be rock-solid stable, and preferably secured. The top must be secured. Use a three-foot wooden block to keep the gutter from collapsing. Safe on the ground, fasten two eyebolts to the block, then climb up and stick it into the gutter behind the ladder.Run rope through the eyebolts and the top of the ladder.In all likelihood, you'll be making several trips up and down the ladder.
When the ladder is safely immobile, and you've checked the rung locks one last time, climb up carefully to make a visual inspection. If you have to leave the ladder and get onto the roof, don't spend a lot of time standing on the gable rakes or eaves; these are the least supported parts of the roof system.
As you scan the roof, don't overlook the obvious: missing shingles or tiles, popped nails, rusted flashing, tree branches, bullet holes, cracked or blistered asphalt (flat roofs, ice dams or cracked shakes. If any of these are directly above, or uphill from, the point where the ceiling leaks, you won't need Sherlock Holmes to locate the problem.
But if you can't find anything, look in the attic; bring a flashlight and a bucket, and wear gloves. Move the soggy insulation aside. Examine the underside of the roof system directly over the ceiling leak. No luck? Turn off the flashlight and pray for visible anomalies, such as daylight; a tiny pinprick will show up like a laser. If you don't see anything, check for the highest water stains on the sheathing or rafters. Water runs downhill, so your leak might conceivably start as high as the peak and slither down the rafter to vex you with a mislocated drip.
If all else fails, have someone turn on a garden hose and douse the suspected area while you wait patiently inside. It may take a long time, but eventually you'll see water merrily cascading down into the bucket you wisely brought along to protect your living quarters.
Still can't see where it's coming from? Your last and most expensive resort is to mix any water-soluble fluorescent dye in at least five gallons of water, douse the roof with the liquid, and use an ultraviolet light to spot its origin when it drips into the attic. Don't do anything suicidal, like trying to carry the bucket up the ladder; use a small rental pump to push it up the hose.
Two words about fixing a tile roof yourself. Forget it.
Leave this to the experts. In the first place, most tile-roof systems are guaranteed for decades; in the second place, such roofs usually leak in places you can't reach from scaffolding, and untrained feet clomping on a tile roof will crack more tiles. Have all repairs done by experienced professionals-that means those with references. You can save them time, and yourself some money, by locating the leak from below, but otherwise, stay put.
