ᐅ Roof Suddenly Severely Leaking After Work by Roofer

Created on: 29 Oct 2023 21:09
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Benutzer207
Hello everyone,

we have a problem with the roof. It is a metal roof that was installed by the previous owner. Since the last rain, the walls of the house have been damp. The house is not yet occupied but is currently undergoing renovation (on hold). However, in recent months it has generally been quite dry.

We don’t know exactly where the water is coming in. We suspect that it seeps through the gaps between the overlapping metal sheets, even though they are supposed to be sloped downward.

Do you know the best way to seal these metal sheets? We bought bitumen sealant and planned to use it to close the screws and gaps.

We might still hire a roofer. The last one left it in a condition that causes moisture inside the house.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Best regards
Benutzer207
Black running shoe on red metal roof, dirt spots and roof seam visible.

Close-up red metal sheet with rust, dirt, yellow lichens and two screws.

Red corrugated metal roof with screw connections; seam visible, autumn leaves in background.

Red corrugated metal roof with screws, chimney on the left and metal cap on top.

Red corrugated metal roof with hole; paint bucket, brush and tools on top.
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WilderSueden
30 Oct 2023 18:49
I don’t understand you. You did something without properly analyzing where the problem is coming from. Water doesn’t flow uphill, so with a correct overlap that is probably not the issue. The overlap can cause capillary effects and pull some water, which is why there is a minimum overlap depending on the roof pitch.

You could have unscrewed it after a rainy day and looked underneath to see where it was wet. Now, during the winter, hardly anyone goes onto the roof, and since you probably haven’t fixed the problem, water will continue to leak in. I also still don’t understand what happened with the roofer mentioned in the title.
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Benutzer207
30 Oct 2023 19:19
Yes, we wanted to fix the problem as quickly as possible. Now we have to wait and see. We have also coated all the screws to prevent any moisture from getting in. We don’t want to wait for the next rain to make it wet again and cause the house to start molding.

If the issue is not resolved now, we will hire another roofing company. We just wanted to act quickly at first because everything downstairs was newly renovated and shouldn’t be damaged by rain.

There have already been some problems with damp walls, but it wasn’t as bad as it is now. This time it was really severe, so we wanted to act fast. Since the problem occurred, we hired the roofing company that supposedly made the two chimneys waterproof. That was the initial assumption. The chimneys were resealed, including new roof tiles designed to better direct water.

It is still unclear whether this is the cause of the severe moisture. But when we complained, the company said they would have to completely redo the roof. We didn’t want that, so for now, we are managing things ourselves without a clear plan.

We will watch until the next rainfall and, if the problem persists, have a professional handle it.

The panic came from the fact that a lot was newly done downstairs, which shouldn’t be lost right away... and we didn’t want to invest in a new roof immediately either.
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Benutzer207
30 Oct 2023 19:26
We tried lifting the metal sheets to spread the paste underneath, but it felt like some of the sheets were glued down in certain spots. Nothing came up, even after removing some screws. Maybe some work had already been done in those areas.

I think if it’s not the screws or the slots causing the issue, it might be the chimneys. However, after inspecting from above multiple times, we don’t see any possible entry points. We also can’t just try running water and look underneath the sheets.

The sheets are very large, and we haven’t been under the metal roof yet. There is no proper access between the roof and the attic. We don’t even know what’s there since it seems to have been built very shallow.