So there I am, working at the range. building… I get there about 9 AM, , and a while alter that some others show up to shoot at the outdoor range. They asked if I needed help, I said “nope ” so they went and shot at the outdoor range. They shot and I continued to examine the roof for any reason that we have this irritating intermittent leak when it rains (sometimes)….
About an hour later, they were done. I chose to take a break then, and got a bottle of water from the fridge and went to say “hi” while they packed up.
“Man, B, you are one Bad-Ass-Mofo. I think we should call you “sir”
Me, being all witty and such, came back with “Huh?”
“Nah, man, you a badass. A real bad dude. Anyone cross you they gonna know it….”
“Dude, let me touch your sleeve so some of that badness rubs off on me….”
You, sir, are one brave dude, I gotta say,…”
I got comments from all of them like that. I wondered what was up…
“Ahem, well, errr…Yes, Yes ….of course….. WTF are talking about though,…. I mean which part of my badassery are you referring to in particular?” Says I.
“Dude, you been on that SLOPED ROOF for over an hour, with no help, no safety line, nothin’. You should get a job with the Secret Service teachin’ ’em and all… Spread some of that badassery around so they can learn and shit…..”
We all laughed and they went home and I gave up finding the leak in a 40+ year old tin roof. I think we are just gonna fix it the same way we have for years, by slathering the whole roof with another layer of fibered roof coating…It’ll solve the issue for another 2 or three years. I just can’t find it…the reason for the leak. No holes, no loose screws, and I’ve looked three times, in different light….I know the area it has to be in but myself and others simply cannot locate it. Hard to fix it since we can’t find it.
Hey, I got some more practice on a sloped roof and being a badass and all….
You haven’t found the leak because you look in the area you ‘know’ the leak is.
Water will migrate in buildings in ways you could hardly imagine.
Your test, should you decide to accept it, is to carefully pour water on one section at a time.
Start low on the sloped roof. User a hose, not water bottle or bucket. The latter may not have enough water to expose the leak. A trickle out of the hose. Either a spray nozzle or a bucket to stop the flow from the hose. Be patient.
Done that. Spray water, no leak. Heavy rain, no leak. Rain from the north? Maybe a leak. Rain from the east? Leak. From the south, no leak. West, maybe leak.
Hence the visual inspection. Can’t find it the other ways.
May have to take tie insulation down on the inside.
Water generally doesn’t move horizontally, but generally down. I have visually inspected (ands and knees) for 6 foot either side of where it drips.
Bo joy.
The screws are either good and have been tightened or been replaced.
I’ve seen water migrate up two stories the across rooms.
That was discovered when walking across an absolutely soaked wet carpet on the third floor. The leak was a shower on the first floor.
I knew a just built three story house nearly completely torn down while looking for the leak. The leak was a 16 penny nail just barely pressed into a copper pipe. That was on one exterior corner on the 2nd floor. Water damage was first discovered on the 3rd floor on the opposite side of the house.
Having been n residential const for decades, and founding the first casualty repair business in my county, I can bore you to death with many more examples. Water does indeed migrate up and horizontal.
Good luck, we’re all counting on you.
This is is a simple truss roof with purlins and then tin over it. About 4:12 pitch I really doubt that water is flowing uphill. There is no conduit by which that can happen. It puddles on the floor at the base of the concrete wall supporting the trusses in only one spot under one of the trusses.
I hate to say that those are only anecdotal stories, but unless there is capillary action or a conduit with pressure or other mechanism like that to conduct the water up the wall or structure, those stories sound like bullshit. 2 stories? Nope. water doesn’t climb upwards. To believe otherwise is foolish. If someone tells you that they “saw it themselves” they re either repeating the story they heard from someone else or just plain lying…. I’d buy travelling horizontally across a level floor to the other side of the building, but water really doesn’t defy gravity or physics. Sorry.
I’d normally let it go, but you’re calling me a liar.
You are showing your ignorance.
There are ways to discover the truth of the matter, apparently none of which you have sought.
Go take a materials lab or two.
Confidence and ignorance are two traits not to be combined, as you have demonstrated.
Why haven’t you figured out such a simple roof? I had already suspected condensation. But you keep looking for that needle.
Maybe run a hose?
You could do it in sections to narrow it down.
Let it dry out. Then starting at the bottom, start hosing and slowly work your way up until you see water inside.
Make sure you get combat pay.
see my reply to rick.
I am too badass for Combat Pay.
Three roofers I know have all said that the screws will come loose and cause intermittent leaks.
Look at the hardware, if the screws don’t have rubber gaskets or o rings to seal the mounting area, that may be the source, and as Rick said, the water will migrate.
I’ve seen water migrate up two stories the across rooms.
That was discovered when walking across an absolutely soaked wet carpet on the third floor. The leak was a shower on the first floor.
I knew a just built three story house nearly completely torn down while looking for the leak. The leak was a 16 penny nail just barely pressed into a copper pipe. That was on one exterior corner on the 2nd floor. Water damage was first discovered on the 3rd floor on the opposite side of the house.
Having been n residential const for decades, and founding the first casualty repair business in my county, I can bore you to death with many more examples. Water does indeed migrate up and horizontal.
Good luck, we’re all counting on you.
Well, Rick, if you claim you have *personally* seen water running upwards (beyond just dampening a wall a foot or two due to absorption)…. TWO STORIES… then yes, I am calling you a liar. Sorry that that hurts your feelingses, but I’m not the one making outrageous claims.
I might buy a bit of seepage due to surface tension, MAYBE a foot or two of dampness upwards along a wall. That isn’t water flowing uphill. Certainly not tens of feet. Certainly not enough to “soak a carpet” tens of feet above the leak.
Unless under pressure or another mechanism, water simply doesn’t run uphill, especially not greater than two stories.
As for the roof, it isn’t condensation, it is rain. It only happens in one spot, not across the whole roof like condensation would…and only (sometimes) when it rains. I suspect a leaking screw, but haven’t found it yet. Direction of rain/wind matters also. As I stated, it gets fixed every time we coat the roof, but as the coating weathers, it comes back. I’m the latest of several members, one a roofing contractor, who has looked but cannot find the reason for the drip.
Do tell, what “materials lab ” you think I should take? Is there one that shows that water will defy the laws of physics and gravity and make liquid water flow uphill?
I’ve seen you up on higher roofs than that with more of a slope. The badassery is strong with you.