OT: First real rains in years, time to check your ceilings and walls.

[Coronita]

[quote=moneymaker]flu, maybe the window was left open, sometimes the simplest solution is the right one. My Jetta has a sun roof that is known to open all by itself, only after a recall to fix said issue no less.[/quote]

No it was closed, unfortunately… I double checked. Will find out tonight.
I think I have a seal leak somewhere.

[svelte]

I’ve heard of a few others with roof leaks this month too.

I suspect that, in addition to the abundant rain, part of the problem this year is the strong winds we’ve had. Water is hitting our homes at odd angles, finding previously unknown routes through our barriers.

[Hobie]

[quote=no_such_reality]
Could the water be running off the solar panel into the vent pipe and then leaking at the joints? It’s one of those older looking cone shaped vents that then has a straight pipe up out of it. How is the black PVC vent pipe connected to the flashing and external pipe normally?
[/quote]

The Henry stuff is just what you need for repairs while its raining.

This is to clarify if you are confidant that the leak is running down the outside of the vent pipe inside the attic.

You did mention that your roof was just several years old. Normally, the ‘cone’ flashings hardly ever leak. If they do, its an old house and they have rusted.

They are replaced with a new roof. The storm collar is what fits around the protruding center vent pipe and over the cone flashing. They are also called roof jacks.

Some guys will fill the gap between flashing and vent with the Henry goop and will seal for years.

Rain entering the actual vent simply runs through the house sewer pipe. Possible but doubtful if they forgot to glue vent sections.

I would however, be very suspect about the solar panel roof connections.

Watch for water running a great distance down rafters. This may be something that flu could look for as well. A high roof leak can appear far away from where the water starts dripping.

As mentioned, all bets are off with the wind. Hard to find these type of leaks.

[Coronita]

So here’s where my leak is happening.
[img_assist|nid=26192|title=leak1|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=300]
It seems like water is oozing from the location where my red screwdriver is. And it doesn’t take that long from the time rain starts to the time I start seeing water ooze in. I get a nice puddle within 5-6 minutes.

Also, it doesn’t seem to be rain+wind. Even without wind, it seems like water is oozing in. In fact, this morning when it stopped raining, it was still coming in.

I’m thinking maybe a bad seal window seal or crack somewhere.
[img_assist|nid=26193|title=window1|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=300]

Here’s some outside pix.

[img_assist|nid=26194|title=outside1|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=200][img_assist|nid=26195|title=outside2|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=200]

I think I will check the seal around the light too to make sure, though it’s far enough away that i doubt it would be that. There’s also the side vent on top, but again, I don’t think it would be likely to be leaking there….

Thoughts?

[Balboa]

N_S_R, I don’t know if stores carry ice melt around here, but it’s branded as Damprid (and others) when it’s used as a desiccant. There are some other chemical dehumidifiers, too. You might want to toss some up in the attic to help things dry out. (They collect the water in a container, so ease of removal is a consideration.)

Forecast says my neighborhood should hit the 70s this weekend. Fingers crossed. We’ve got a leaky window, too…

[no_such_reality]

I think I got it.

Heavy rains last night, heavy rain and hail this morning, but the water spots is already drying which is good.

The flashing itself is new, they used a weird brown colored metal flashing to blend with the roof.

Not looking forward to crawling through the attic again later after the dentist.

I envy Flu’s working area, here’s were I’m at..

[img_assist|nid=26197|Title=|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=300|height=225]

[NotCranky]

Flu,
I wonder if the weep holes in you window are clogged? Maybe cleaning the tracks really well especially near the weep holes would do it. Other than that , possible window flashing leak or a leak in the seal where the wood siding abuts the stucco.

Is the wood siding new work? Replacement?

[Coronita]

[quote=NotCranky]Flu,
I wonder if the weep holes in you window are clogged? Maybe cleaning the tracks really well especially near the weep holes would do it. Other than that , possible window flashing leak or a leak in the seal where the wood siding abuts the stucco.

Is the wood siding new work? Replacement?[/quote]

No, it’s all old stuff. Just started leaking this month though. I’ll check the drain. I’m guessing getting a hose, I should be able to reproduce this fairly easily.

I’m inclined more and more to replace the windows. They already have a pressure leak, so they needed replacement… I might just pull the entire window and get new ones rather than just replace the glass.

The other source of the the leak I was thinking was near the door seal, to the right. But it looks like that’s not the source.

[FlyerInHi]

That’s why I’m not crazy about all the “fancy” roofs. A simple roof with one slant in the best direction for solar would be ideal.

[Hobie]

There are also weep holes in the bottom of the outside stucco flashing. If they get plugged,usually by sloppy stucco installers, water could back up and drain inside. Or, there isn’t a good ‘z’ flashing to keep outside water off the slab.

However, I’d look closely at your door. Bet that bottom threshold is missing caulking when installed.

Be sure the edge is sealed as well. ie weatherstrip on the vertical and top sides

[Hobie]

NSR: Not the area to seal the vent. It needs to be outside on the roof. Another close up pic please, and a roof vent shot.

[no_such_reality]

[quote=Hobie]NSR: Not the area to seal the vent. It needs to be outside on the roof. Another close up pic please, and a roof vent shot.[/quote]

LOL, I didn’t seal it there, I sealed it outside. I identified where it was leaking from the inside, through the nail that’s in the flashing. That little bright spot behind the vent stack is a drip in motion.

I proceeded to go outside on the roof in the rain to check the nail and flashing. A little pressure showed water was wicking from the outside edge of the flashing over to the nail between the flashing and shingle basically reaching the unprotected part of the nail driven through them providing the access point.

I resealed the nail on top, and seal the edge of the flashing back to the shingles that are on top of the flashing. While attempting, in the growing dark, wind and rain to insure that I wasn’t creating a mini-dam to trap the water.

So yeah, tomorrow being a sunny day will another climb back on the roof day and touch up my emergency patch.

BTW, thanks for the advice and pointers, it is appreciated.

I didn’t change anything in the attic picture, that’s the way it is, cruddy ancient insulation, skip lather cedar shingle detritus and whatever the hell the wrap is on the vent stack.

[Hobie]

I just couldn’t make out what was wrapped around the pipe. Very strange. Maybe that was simple to seal air leaks? Dunno. Doesn’t matter now you have fixed it. Nice job.

[ucodegen]

[quote=AN][quote=flu]Lol. I walked into my master bedroom and near the window my carpet is all wet. Like soaked…. Great, add one more thing to “fix”….[/quote]
My kid’s bedroom experienced the same thing. I thought I had it fixed the last time to rain this much. But don’t have any opportunity to test my fix. Turns out I fixed 1/2 of the problem. Time to try and fix the other 1/2 and wait for the next crazy rain.[/quote]
I will second Hobie’s suggestion on looking at the door seals and seals between the threshold and door jamb. Check if the door jamb itself is cracking near the threshold. Ours is and it looks like I have a big job coming up to remove the door and redo a good portion of the door jamb itself. Doors that face the sun are more likely to have this problem.

[svelte]

[quote=flu]

Also, it doesn’t seem to be rain+wind. Even without wind, it seems like water is oozing in. In fact, this morning when it stopped raining, it was still coming in.
[/quote]

Your photos show water on the window. That says there was at least enough window to blow the raindrops over – it may be easier to do on your house because your roof overhang is extremely shallow.

On my house it takes quite a gust to get the windows wet…most rainfalls they stay dry. But this month, almost every rain has pushed the rain onto the windows.

[Author]

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