It's decorating time again & we've just had a plasterer in who's done a great job, however, a couple of days later it rained & we noticed for the 1st time a leak (we've only been in the house 6 months & had only used the room for storage).

Anyway here's a couple of pics of where the waters coming in (when raining) & secondly the outside of the house of the effected area.

http://www.chris.b.dsl.pipex.com/images/roof2.JPG

http://www.chris.b.dsl.pipex.com/images/roof1.jpg


A friend of a friend who's a roofer says it's because the house doesnt have soakaways ???? & cant tell us how much it will cost to repair untill he gets involved ........ but surely the house hasnt leaked for the last 30 years ?

Any advice would be greatly recieved

Thanks alot

Chris

It's decorating time again & we've just had a plasterer in who's done a great job, however, a couple of days later it rained & we noticed for the 1st time a leak (we've only been in the house 6 months & had only used the room for storage).

Anyway here's a couple of pics of where the waters coming in (when raining) & secondly the outside of the house of the effected area.


A friend of a friend who's a roofer says it's because the house doesnt have soakaways ???? & cant tell us how much it will cost to repair untill he gets involved ........ but surely the house hasnt leaked for the last 30 years ?

Any advice would be greatly recieved

Thanks alot

Chris

I'm not a builder or a roofer but cant see what the hell a soakaway has got to do with roof leak, unless your gutter is filling up to roof level. ;) :D A soakaway is a large hole in the ground filled with hardcore/gravel etc to allow drainage.

Recently had the first roof problem with my house as well and after 5 cowboys I eventually found someone who new what they were doing... scarey stuff. Get references before you let anyone touch it.

Have you check the gutters to see if they are blocked and overflow when there is heavy rain. You could try getting up there with the garden hose and run water down the roof to the gutters and see if that ends up leaking into the house. ALso whist up there check that all the lead flashing is attached especially the area above the window to the left.

Cheers guys, if I could do heights I'd borrow a ladder & have a look but I struggle standing on a chair lol

Any pro's out there ?

Would say its probably not your gutter, if they block they normally overflow between the gutter and the fascia.

Looks like you,ve got a problem with you`re `cover flashing` the lead that goes up the roof and then down and acroos you,re tiles. Check the condition of the lead first.

Whilst you look at the lead have a look at you`re tiles, they look like stonewolds from the pics, these are interlocking tiles that have run outs (channels) to keep the weathering up, if a channel has broken (possibly due to frost) this would let water in.

where roughly are you located, if youre local I could come and have a look for you.

Cheers Rex, that all makes perfect sense. At least I can kinda sound like I have an idea of what I'm talking about when i speak to him. I really appreciate the help :)

I'm in Yateley, Hampshire/Surrey borders btw

I would think it is a problem with the flashing on the channel between the raised roof above the window and the neighbours wall. - Do you know what is in the boxed section top right of the window inside the house - If there is any sort of beam in there the water could be running along it and then down the wall when it gets to the end -

I would take a chunk out of the box section, as this will let you see exactly where the water is coming in - It will probably be cheaper to do that and get it replastered than to have someone fix all the flashing and then find out it is coming from somewhere else

It definitely looks like the lead flashing is causing the problem, either the one wedged into the chase on the adjoining house, or the one flashing off the raised roof part of your window.
It may be a good idea to seal up where the lead flashing penetrates the brickwork with a good silicone sealant such as Arbosil 1096 and check that no leadwork is loose and that it is lap-jointed correctly. I can't see the roof tiles to the left of the window, so I'd have a look at these too to make sure there's no holes, smashed tiles etc.

Your roofer friend seems to think the rainwater pipe is backing up for some reason (?) so make sure the gutter outlets are clear of debris and check the back inlet gulley at the bottom for signs of blockage. It seems pretty unlikely that this is the problem, but with leaks you have to work by process of elimination.

Also from the photos it looks like there's a mastic expansion joint running down the wall to the left of your window. If it is, check that this seal is still ok at the top near the window. If it looks cracked you can gun over it with some polysulphide sealant as a put-up measure, but you may have to get a builder in to rake it out and re-seal it if it's really bad.

Thanks for all the replies chaps,

I've just had another chat with my man & he say's that there are no soakers ? & when theres driving wind/rain it's forcing the water in. He says someones tried to repair before by putting bitchamin (?) over the flashing but was never going to solve the problem.

What d'you all think ?

sounds plausible - If so it shouldn't be too hard to fix - He is correct that covering the flashing with bitumen won't help.

Yup,
I also say flashing.
We have had an ongoing problem with the same problem since the house was built 4 years ago.
The water only comes through with heavy rain but with the wind in a certain direction.
The NHBC are now involved and have ruled that the builders should sort it within a month.

Nick

Bitumen when its dried is quite hard and the trouble with putting it over leadwork is that the lead can 'move' with expansion and contraction caused by heat coming from inside the house, and environmental conditions outside and so crack the bitumen. If it's going to be covered with anything it needs to be pliable enough to move with the lead.

If your man has had a good look at the roof he's probably in a better position to comment as I'm only going by the photos ! Soakers are bits of lead that are interleaved with the roof tiles to stop the ingression of water, but its difficult to tell if they've been fitted correctly without getting up the ladder and having a look, and if you have no experience of roof specs. it may be difficult to spot yourself.

A decent roofer should be able to sort it out easily within a day (probs be in the boozer for lunchtime)

2 men for half a day + 1 roll of lead & some silicone should sort it.

He's quoted me £150 to sort out both front & back of the house as well as sorting a little leak in the porch, so I think he's being quite fair.

Thankyou very much guys for all your input :) You've allowed me to have a conversation with him without sounding an idiot & put my mind at rest which is priceless ;)

Good ol' Scoobynet

wrxsmo,
sorry, you`re a bit to far for me to come and look.

Sounds like you`re mate knows what hes looking for! MJW`s given a good example of the problem aswell. Hes right in pointing out that you would need to have been up on the roof to check that the soakers have been fitted right or at all.

It should be an easy job for a decent roofer to put right and the price seems very fair for what jobs hes going to carry out.

Check to make sure that he takes out all of the old cover flashing and replaces with new if it has been repaired before, he will need to lift it or remove it to put new soakers in anyway.

He should also be looking at the top of your dormer for problems, the area where your roof profile changes (at the top of the lead you can see in your picture.) as this will have or should have some sort of lead saddle to help weather the two profiles.

Might be worth asking him to have a look at the wood whilst hes up there coz if the waters been getting in for a while you may get problems further down the line.

Sounds like someones had the `cowboys` in before if they`ve painted it with bitumen, ask your mate if when hes done the job if it leaks still will it cost you more.

good luck, leaks are a pain in the arse, but hey they keep me employed.

cheers.

wrxsmo,
sorry, you`re a bit to far for me to come and look.

Sounds like you`re mate knows what hes looking for! MJW`s given a good example of the problem aswell. Hes right in pointing out that you would need to have been up on the roof to check that the soakers have been fitted right or at all.

It should be an easy job for a decent roofer to put right and the price seems very fair for what jobs hes going to carry out.

Check to make sure that he takes out all of the old cover flashing and replaces with new if it has been repaired before, he will need to lift it or remove it to put new soakers in anyway.

He should also be looking at the top of your dormer for problems, the area where your roof profile changes (at the top of the lead you can see in your picture.) as this will have or should have some sort of lead saddle to help weather the two profiles.

Might be worth asking him to have a look at the wood whilst hes up there coz if the waters been getting in for a while you may get problems further down the line.

Sounds like someones had the `cowboys` in before if they`ve painted it with bitumen, ask your mate if when hes done the job if it leaks still will it cost you more.

good luck, leaks are a pain in the arse, but hey they keep me employed.

cheers.

Thanks for the help & advice Rex :)