Guide to Roof Leaks and Your Home

A roof leak can lead to many problems. I got a call from a client about two weeks ago that informed me he had mold on the ceiling above his shower. I asked if he had any venting in the bath, he said, he had a fan, but it was broken at this time. My first reaction was that he was allowing to much moisture to stay in the bath area after showers and baths. We talked about where the mold was and how long it had been there. He said, he had tried to bleach the area and it still just kept coming back. We talked about the fact older homes had windows located by the shower or tub. There was a reason for the windows in this area; it was to help vent the moisture out to allow the area to dry and get outside air into the room. Most people end up painting the window closed. The wood sills on these windows become water damaged from the shower, so people sand the area down and paint it. Then just keep adding another layer of paint as it breaks down over time. So, at first he thought he had a venting or moisture problem in the shower area.

I am sure you have seen the window in your own home or in another persons house. The window that is always in the the middle of the tub area on older homes. I could never understand why you would have a window with a wooden sill and casing inside a shower area. Well, showing my age here a little, taking a bath was much more common years back, so the wood around the window did not get damaged as quickly. Then the advent of hand held shower heads spraying water everyone helped the break down of the wood also. You can go into real old homes and if they have not been updated at all, will not even have any piping for a shower. So, there's a short overview of moisture and venting in a bath area. It is not uncommon to get mildew or mold growth in these areas if they are not vented and allowed to stay wet.

So, with that said, I told the client that someone would need to come out and take a look at the old vent and see where the mold was at in the ceiling bath / shower area. I know people want you to be able to tell them over the phone what the problem is and how much it will cost, it is really to hard to tell. This article will show that in the end. We kept talking about the problem how long it had been there, the fact the drywall would start to get damaged from trying to stop the mildew and mold from from growing in the bath tub area. Now, at this point in time it was thought the fan would need to be replaced and make sure the fan was vented to the outside of the home. We discussed fan size and what size fan was already in place. A new fan can start at a few hundred dollars go up from there depending how much labor is need to get the old fan out and the new fan in.

We went to the client's home and looked at the bath area and the growth the client was talking about above the tub and shower area. The growth had a darker appearance and looked like the drywall was water damaged also. So, it then became more obvious it was not a venting problem but, a leaking roof problem on the surface. Looking into the attic area revealed water damaged roof boards and supports close to the bath area. The area had a soil stack or a pipe to vent off sewer gas going through the roof in this area. The soil stack flashing or seal had broke down over time and was allowing water into the house. Roof leaks can be a hard thing to find depending and how bad they are. Water coming in a roof can travel many feet across supports and boards before it gets into the walls and ceiling making it sometimes very hard to fix the leak.

This client was very lucky in the end as it was a inexpensive repair to fix. The soil stack pipe was sealed up again that in turn takes care of the roof leak. Any openings in a roof over time can break down and allow water into the home. Water is one of the most destructive things to a home. Mold can cause a whole building to become unlivable. Another reminder to everyone having their homes worked on, be careful who you hire to work on your house. This simple repair could have turned into a lot more, when really all it was, was a simple repair. So, when someone tells you, they need to look at a problem first hand, does not mean they don't want to help you or are trying to get more money out of you. A simple roof leak was solved instead of having to put in a whole new fan at a much greater expense. Roof leaks and your house can be a complicated thing.

Remember safety first with any home projects.