Woke up to a leak!

[voicey]

The wife called me into the ensuite this morning to tell me the pull chord for the light was wet. Upon closer inspection there was some water on the floor tile underneath (not enough to puddle though). I opened the case of the switch and it was very wet inside (although I was expecting water to pour down on me but there wasn't any more).

Half of the ensuite is covered by a flat roof so I climbed up there to have a look expecting the worse. Here's what I discovered:

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• voicey
• 12 Oct 2013
• 1

There was a very small amount of pooling but we had a lot of rain last night (London) and the sun had only just started to peek over the ridge (this side of the house is north facing).

I cleaned all the moss away and inspected the bitumen. The worse I could see was a small crack here but it didn't seem to penetrate that far into the bitumen:

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• voicey
• 12 Oct 2013
• 1

All the flashing looked OK to me although I did spot a broken tile that would be above the ensuite:

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• voicey
• 12 Oct 2013
• 1

I'm at a loss as to what to look for next. Any ideas?

Cheers...

 

[Alastairreid]

The fractures are the most likely cause not the slate!

Clean the roof let it dry and give it a coat of acrypol see how it goes.

 

[voicey]

The fractures are the most likely cause not the slate!

Clean the roof let it dry and give it a coat of acrypol see how it goes.

Thanks. I have have some cold-applied bitumen adhesive from when I felted my outbuildings so I'll try and paint that over the cracks and see how we get one.

 

[footprints]

No harm in doing what you suggest with the bitumen, how does it drain away from that area could it be partly blocked causing it to build up?

The weather forecast was for north winds and as it is north facing it's just possible freak conditions drove it up under the slates.

My workshop got soaked a couple of years ago when we had high winds and heavy rain but it's never happened since.

 

[noseall]

The fractures are the most likely cause not the slate!

Clean the roof let it dry and give it a coat of acrypol see how it goes.

Thanks. I have have some cold-applied bitumen adhesive from when I felted my outbuildings so I'll try and paint that over the cracks and see how we get one.

If you daub any old tat on the roof then you are more likely to fail and will be in a worse position.

Use a premium product as suggested by Alistair.

 

[Xenon]

Thats an Asphalt roof and the crazing is perfectly normal. However, the joints in the copings need addressing, and the soil pipe needs some sealant around the top of it. The leak will not be directly above the light, it will be hitting the plasterboard and running to it, Make sure the outlet is running free as well, if it was blocked, or partially blocked, water could build up and overcome the layboard under the slate.

 

[voicey]

It was even worse this morning so I cut a hole in the plasterboard and poked my head into the void. The water is dripping off the firing that is attached to the the joist directly underneath the join between the tiles and the flat roof.

I went back up on the roof but couldn't see where the water was getting in from so I think I'm going to get a professional in. If anyone knows a good roofer in SE London/Kent give me a shout.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[footprints]

Ah well that's shot my idea down in flames
Hope you get it sorted soon.
I have found reasonable roofers in my own area using this site.

http://www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk/sitepages/bwchome.aspx

 

[voicey]

A builder friend was in the area today so we spent a few hours on the roof. We stripped back the tiles and discovered that the water was seeping in under the edge of the tile circled red:

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• voicey
• 17 Oct 2013
• 1

This area of the roof had been repaired before and the there wasn't enough overhang. We slid in and glued down two extra rows of tiles. It'll hold for the winter but come spring we'll re-tile that side of the roof.

Thanks for the help and advice.

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• voicey
• 17 Oct 2013
• 1

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• voicey
• 17 Oct 2013
• 1

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• voicey
• 17 Oct 2013
• 1