The water that drips down to your living room may come your roof, but don’t hit the attic quite yet. There are many ways by which the recent storm or snow fall caused your once formidable home to become suddenly vulnerable, and the water that they left in their wake could have entered through some other structural weaknesses. Sometimes, the culprit may not be a calamity but sheer neglect or the gradual wear-and-tear that brings about the collapse of certain parts of the house, leading to gaps which then become leaks.
Search every part of your house and every possible avenue for water to come in and out to spot and plug a roof leak. Knowing the five most common causes will certainly help and act as a road map in your journey.
Roof windows and skylights. Rain can trickle down through the slide of a skylight that does downhill. Windows that are broken or are not shut properly are can also become inadvertent channels of leaking.
Chimneys. Especially if they are NOT located at the highest or peak point of a roof, chimneys are actually risk factors that can create water leaks. Think if it as one giant hole accessible to any particle of water floating above your house. Water in the atmosphere or brought by rain can pool on the surface of your roof, and then trickles unseen to the tiniest of cracks in the chimney.
Chimneys built on the lower side of the roof must come equipped with a triangle-shaped metal on the ascending side that acts like a bridge between the stack and the roof. This metal prevents the water from accumulating at the chimney base.
Debris. The regular trimming of trees near your house is not just for the prevention of accidents. Neither is the consistent roof cleaning you must do is solely for cleanliness purposes. These two activities are a first line of defense from allowing debris such as leaves and twigs to settle on your roof, and act as barriers that prevent water from escaping. The water then does not trickle out of your roof but into its nearest crack or faulty spot and into your home.
Any other hole that invites water moisture to come in. Make sure that your roof is solid, without any gap that has to be filled up. Small things like the removal of a TV antenna or the deterioration of a shingle can cause water leaks, if left unattended.
