Finding the Source of Water Leaks in a Tile Roof

Several months ago, we got called to look at a couple of leaks in a tile roof. This was a two story house which had a room addition which had been built some years earlier. The roof leaked when it rained heavily, and especially when the rain became wind driven. The leaks showed up in two areas, one in the old part of the house, the other close to where the newer addition had been “tied in” to the original roof.

We agreed to repair the leaks, and proceeded to do so. I should mention at this point that, unbeknownst to me at the time, the leak at the tie in had actually reared its’ ugly head long before the addition had been built, and had continued on and off for over ten years. Had that occurred to me, or had the homeowner let us know, it may have gone easier, but who knows?

Anyway, our assumption was that it shouldn’t be too difficult to repair the problems, so we went ahead with our standard tile repair, which involves raising the tile in the leak sections, replacing the paper, double flashing penetrations, etc. By the time we were done, both my employees, as well as the customer, were sure that all was good.

A couple of weeks later, the rain came, and I talked with the happy customer, who informed me that all was dry. I felt real good about that, because, as I have indicated, we had found out that this problem had been recurring over many years, and getting it finally fixed was very satisfying.

Then, a couple more weeks went by, it rained heavily, and I received the dreaded call; it leaked! Not in both places, mind you, but in the one at the tie in to the addition. At least one of the two had been fixed. Well, because we guarantee all our work, we rushed out to try to find the problem.

Nothing! There was no indication of any kind of flaw or defect in the work which we had performed. Even so, I sent the guys back, and on the very edge of the upper roof, they thought they found an opening, and went ahead and fixed it, this time sure that the problem was solved for good.

Next rain came, the homeowner called again. Still leaking!

Of course, by this time I was getting frustrated, and a little annoyed at my guys. After all, we’re roofers, and these people paid us to fix this thing. Nevertheless, I sent then back again, and short of threatening them with bodily harm, told them that this time was it, we had to get this thing figured out!

So, they proceeded to pull the tile, allowing them to check everything yet again. I finally received a call from my foreman, who relayed that everything was exposed, where the tile was removed, and… nothing!

So, back to the drawing board. I started thinking, and in my experience, I have learned that not all water intrusion at the roof area is necessarily due to a roof leak.

I called my foreman back, and asked him to look carefully in the entire area. He indicated that all was normal. Looking at the house, the two story roof was above the lower roof, separated by a stucco wall. I asked if there were any cracks or defects in the stucco, and he said no, only a gutter and a downspout, which drained the water from above, down the wall to the ground.

I could almost hear the light clicking on in his head. He told me to wait a minute. He decided to water test the wall, where the downspout was attached by a metal strap, which was held in place by a screw, which penetrated the stucco.

Sure enough, in just a minute or two of running the water on the wall, that same pesky leak appeared!

Hallelujah! He had found the leak!

Water, driven by heavy rain, and pulled into the hole in the stucco, by gravity, had gotten into the wall, found a stud, and finally showed up inside. With some caulking and sealing, we were able to fix it, permanently!

My customer offered to pay us extra for our detective work, but honestly, we felt a responsibility to stick with the problem till it was solved. Needless to say, he was happy, and actually, I was proud that my company was able to finally solve the problem for him.

Bottom line, this leak proved, once again, that not all water intrusion is necessarily caused by a roof leak.

Water is indeed very, very, tricky.

I think we can all sleep well, and dry, for a long time to come. This one is solved!

Dave Hancock, President

Raneri and Long Roofing and Windows

Cell: 619-244-1618