How To Find A Water Leak In Your Roof

Have a helper stationed in the attic with a flashlight.

How to find a water leak in your roof.

The other person will be inside the attic watching the area for water leaks. Run the water over the place where you think the leak might be located. Learning how to find a roof leak is easy but accomplishing the task can be frustrating. Looking for roof leaks on the outside of your house.

Projections or penetrations such as vents dormers and chimneys are frequent places for leaks. Some roof leaks are tough to locate. Here s how it works. Find a friend to help with the roof leak test.

The structure of an asphalt shingle roof makes it even more difficult because. If you notice that eaves or downspouts are clogged remove the clogging material pine needles leaves etc and restore the flow of water. One person will be outside the house with a garden hose running water over the roof. And fixing a leaky roof can be less time consuming than locating where the water is coming in.

If you can t find the cause of a leak from the attic or by visual inspection on the roof surface wait for dry weather and ask a friend to help you do a water test. Sometimes the water shows up at a ceiling spot distant from the leak. Roof leaks can be cause by missing shingles gaps in the metal flashing around chimneys and vent pipes or small holes in the roofing. How to water test your roof for leaks.

To do this one person goes onto the roof with a garden hose. A lot of times it s simply locating the problem. If your ceiling has a plastic vapor barrier between the drywall and the attic insulation push the insulation aside and look for flow stains on the plastic often water runs to openings in the vapor barrier such as at ceiling light fixtures. The source of a leak often isn t obvious on the roof itself and it can be hard to pinpoint since the water may run down the roof decking and rafters before dripping onto the ceiling below.

If you don t want to wait for rain to look for the leak try bringing the garden hose up on the roof. Roof leaks follow the path of least resistance which makes them difficult to find when you don t know where to look. Don t go crazy with the water. Water frequently enters the house near things that go through the roof.

Water testing for roof leaks. The hardest part of fixing a roof leak. Excess rainwater or snowmelt with no downspout to flow through will eventually seep through your roof and walls resulting in leaks. Be sure to start small.