Roof is leaking and not sure why or where

[pokerduder]

You said that the water on the screen got your attention but you showed water on the deck and the siding, you never noticed that before?

No, because our old windows didn't have screens. With the new windows, the window/screen sticks out enough to catch some of the dripping water. That's what clued us in.

 

[nealtw]

You don't have a bathroom above this area?

 

[pokerduder]

You don't have a bathroom above this area?

No. Both rooms above the porch are bedrooms.

 

[nealtw]

No. Both rooms above the porch are bedrooms.

So the window guy just changed the windows and covered the old trim with metal?

 

[pokerduder]

So the window guy just changed the windows and covered the old trim with metal?

I believe so.

 

[nealtw]

So you still have a few possibilities. Usually we get a call from a friend of a friend after the window guy has been there a few times to re-caulk everything and says it isn't his problem.
Sometimes it is just his installation, but more often it is something more where the old window leaked for years or other problems start to show up just because things have changed a bit.
He, most times has done everything in his contract. What the contract never says is, we will remove everything down to framing and inspect for water damage and wait while other problems are fixed.

If I was called out to your house, I would inspect the roof for new nail holes that Oldog mentioned but with a low slope thats not likely. After that I look for the cheapest to fix distructive inspection I can do. That would be drywall around the windows above. I would be looking for rot and where it starts or if there is new water there( wet but no rot) I would also keep in mind that you have a very low slope roof and no visable venting in the soffet so this could be a very old ice dam problem and still what ever the problem might not show up inside the sheeting.

 

[oldognewtrick]

When it warms up a bit, get the hose out and start leak testing, starting from the bottom up till you make it leak. We do this a lot.

 

[inspectorD]

I still would like the pic of the attic. The only roof picture we have seen here is of the porch roof , which would leak to the outside of the porch and have nothing to do with ice dammimg. The upper roof however will leak all the way down to the ground behind the porch roof flashing if it was not installed correctly...I have no idea what the upper roof looks like from the video. The picture you took of the snow, is the porch roof from a window.
We need to see the insulation, and underneath roof deck plywood to rule that out. This is why I ask.

Another question, is this water from melting snow, or from a recent rainstorm?

 

[pokerduder]

If I was called out to your house, I would inspect the roof for new nail holes that Oldog mentioned

I looked myself and didn't see any holes.

 

[pokerduder]

I still would like the pic of the attic.

Another question, is this water from melting snow, or from a recent rainstorm?

The attic is basically a crawl space and it has been insulated and sealed off. So I won't be going in there unless I absolutely have to.

It rained yesterday and we had melting snow. It is about 32 today and there's a little bit of water but not much.

 

[nealtw]

I looked myself and didn't see any holes.

Do have access to the attic?

 

[pokerduder]

Do have access to the attic?

The attic is basically a crawl space and it has been insulated and sealed off. So I won't be going in there unless I absolutely have to. It's a nightmare going up there.

 

[nealtw]

No siding was removed. They just replaced the old

I'm going to contact the roofing company tomorrow. I supposedly have a 15 year workmanship warranty. What would you suggest I ask them? Or how should I approach the phone call?

Thanks,
Lee

Where is the flashing?

 

[nealtw]

Did they take away all your old windows, were they wood and why did you change them?

 

[pokerduder]

Where is the flashing?

I looked and thought I could see a glimpse of the flashing under the shingles. Is this OK to do?

 

[pokerduder]

Did they take away all your old windows, were they wood and why did you change them?

The windows were original to the home (wood). So they were 40 years old. We replaced them with vinyl. They took them all away.

 

[oldognewtrick]

I looked and thought I could see a glimpse of the flashing under the shingles. Is this OK to do?

No, flashing in a head wall goes over the shingles. Ask them what the roof pitch is. A pitch less than 2 should not have shingles.

 

[pokerduder]

No, flashing in a head wall goes over the shingles. Ask them what the roof pitch is. A pitch less than 2 should not have shingles.

When you say "less than 2", do you mean degrees? If I had to guess, it is somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees.

 

[oldognewtrick]

No, roof pitch is measured by how many inches of fall you have in a 12"horizontal run. If you take a 2' level and hold it flat, measure down from the end away from the shingles and it measures 4", you would have a 2/12 roof pitch. If it measured 24" inches you would have a 12/12 pitch.

 

[pokerduder]

No, flashing in a head wall goes over the shingles.

I just re-looked and I think what they did was shingle over the headwall flashing for aesthetics. So in other words, they laid down the shingles, put the flashing over it like they were supposed to, and then put a row of shingles over the metal.