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alfredo

(60,146 posts)
Tue Mar 22, 2022, 11:42 AM Mar 2022

Weird problem with roof leak. It leaks when there is no rain. Fixed!

Last edited Thu May 19, 2022, 09:31 AM - Edit history (1)

I have a cathedral ceiling, no attic, no appliances nearby. It only leaks every few days.
Fixed.

The roofer added vents to combat excessive moisture.

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Weird problem with roof leak. It leaks when there is no rain. Fixed! (Original Post) alfredo Mar 2022 OP
Dew or melting snow? Rebl2 Mar 2022 #1
No snow or rain to contribute to these random leaks alfredo Mar 2022 #9
Do you live in the north or have ice/snow on your roof? Blue Owl Mar 2022 #2
Sounds like when there's enough moisture in the air, no leaks since the roof has absorbed some SWBTATTReg Mar 2022 #3
The humidity stays in the low forties. alfredo Mar 2022 #10
Que the Twilight Zone music Ferrets are Cool Mar 2022 #4
Fixing a Hole, The Beatles taxi Mar 2022 #5
Check all flashings. I had a leak around the plumbing vent. Phoenix61 Mar 2022 #6
Thank you for the advice and I will check that stuff out. Ferrets are Cool Mar 2022 #8
can it be condensation from inside the house? Kali Mar 2022 #7
Probably nothing even remotely like my recent experience quakerboy May 2022 #11
Resolved! Thanks for helping. alfredo May 2022 #12

Blue Owl

(54,915 posts)
2. Do you live in the north or have ice/snow on your roof?
Tue Mar 22, 2022, 11:46 AM
Mar 2022

I’ve had ice dams before that bring melted water in through the ceiling….

SWBTATTReg

(24,332 posts)
3. Sounds like when there's enough moisture in the air, no leaks since the roof has absorbed some
Tue Mar 22, 2022, 11:58 AM
Mar 2022

moisture thru the air (thus the roofing has expanding, blocking access for the water).

When there's no moisture/rain, the roofing 'wood panels' shrink a little thus allowing water to pass ... so this shows (1) don't have enough tar paper on the top surface (underneath the actual shingles, whatever you have on your roof) (2) I am surprised that you have that much 'give and take' on roof shrinkage. I wouldn't normally expect that much of a movement.

Maybe a humidifier too, to put more moisture into the air inside the home?

I remember when I had a leak, and it wasn't the roof, it was the moisture actually seeped through the mortar of my bricks in the home.

So a good tuckpointing job did the trick as well as waterproofing it afterwards.

Ferrets are Cool

(21,990 posts)
4. Que the Twilight Zone music
Tue Mar 22, 2022, 11:59 AM
Mar 2022
I also have a leak that I can't find. But, it is a proper one that only performs when it rains.

taxi

(2,014 posts)
5. Fixing a Hole, The Beatles
Tue Mar 22, 2022, 12:03 PM
Mar 2022

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go

Phoenix61

(17,723 posts)
6. Check all flashings. I had a leak around the plumbing vent.
Tue Mar 22, 2022, 01:24 PM
Mar 2022

Drove me nuts because the drip was at an a/c register about 7 feet down slope from the vent pipe. My gutter guy recommended Geocel ProFlex. Stuffs amazing. It held up to Hurricane Michael and that was several years after I had applied it.

quakerboy

(14,197 posts)
11. Probably nothing even remotely like my recent experience
Thu May 19, 2022, 01:33 AM
May 2022

But..

I had a pipe leaking.. but at unpredictable moments.. and never when i was actually using water or when it was raining.

Turned out it was a drain pipe from an upstairs bathtub.. But a previous renovator had noted what I assume was at the time a tiny drip.. and had placed a small plastic wastebasket below it, inside the wall. Over the course of a decade or two.. the leak slowly increased.. but it only became apparent when the water was enough to fill the basket and overflow. And that would evaporate out at different rates.

All of which made for a lot of confusion about how, what and why it was happening until the wall was opened up.

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