intermittent leaking roof

[swelec]

I have just ripped down the ceiling in the upstairs room of my dormer bungalow in order to trace an annoying intermittent leak - it seems to leak only with heavy rain combined with strong winds

I think the leak comes from where the flat roof ( this was renewed some years ago ) meets the apex of the roof - possible where the semicircular capping things are

Should I take these off and re-cement them in ?

Is there anything else I should do to seal between these and the fibreglass of the flat roof ?

 

[masona]

Very difficult without seeing it.

The leak problem could be somewhere else and not where you think ! I've been to one job 3 time where I just couldn't find the leak, next time I decided to go when it was raining and found the strong wind was lifting the leading flashing on the side and blowing the rain into the flat roof underneath.
The lead flashing was too thin.

 

[swelec]

Cheers Masona

I realise how difficult it is to trace the source - that is why I ripped the ceiling down to try and finally nail this annoying problem !!

The leaks through the upstairs and downstairs ceilings were far apart but almost in a direct line from what appears to be the source which is the apex of the roof

I have temporarily fixed this by patching the holes in the felt where the water was coming through , which meant fixing the next hole in line then the next one then the next one ( water seems to find microscopic holes to leak through ) until eventually getting it to run outside of the bungalow

One suggestion I have been given is to put a blue dye type toilet block on the roof to aid in tracking the leak - has anyone any experience of this ?


Any other advice would be greatfully accepted

 

[breezer]

One suggestion I have been given is to put a blue dye type toilet block on the roof to aid in tracking the leak

whats the theory behind that then?

all it will do is make the water blue, but you can already see the water

 

[masona]

Have you check the roof tiles for fine hairline crack or are the cement joint on ridge tiles okay ?

 

[swelec]

Unfortunately it was blowing a gale last weekend, so I passed on getting onto the roof.

Hopefully the weather will be better next weekend so I can give it a good inspection.

I will check all the localised tiles but I honestly think there must be a gap somewhere in the cementing of the ridge tiles.

If so , I will try to carefully remove them and rebed them in