A similar story... we were recently called in to fix roof leaks certainly caused by one of our roof systems. The homeowner was understandably upset with water stains on the new ceiling drywall of the old house they had just moved into. Looking in the attic, we could see water stains and even moisture drops on the underside of the south roof... and also the north facing roof and the glass and frames of the attic windows on the east and west gable ends. Seems the contractor had not installed a vapor barrier between the conditioned second floor and the unconditioned attic, and this being New York in the winter, warm moist air was rising into the cold attic and condensing everywhere. But we were the first ones called, not the GC. Same moral: don't be quick to accept blame for a roof leak. Investigate all possibilities. Jeff Irish Hudson Valley Clean Energy
________________________________ From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of William Miller Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 6:03 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: [RE-wrenches] The big valley Friends: Two weeks ago we had a torrential downpour in our area-- about 4 inches overnight. I received a call Sunday morning from a client who we had installed a roof mount system for almost 5 years ago. Their roof was leaking! I hurried right over in the rain and sure enough, there was a leak right below one of our feet placements. I inspected the caulking, and though it was not as pretty as I might have done myself, there was no apparent leak path. Seeing no other apparent reason for the leak, I assumed it was through our penetration. I re-sealed the two penetrations nearest the leak and promised the home owner I would take care of all repairs.. That evening the client called and the roof was leaking again. This seemed unlikely since I had carefully sealed my penetrations. Upon further inspection, there was a valley near the leak and there was a tiny little sand dam in the valley. The next clear day, I hired a local, large, well known, reputable roofing contractor to deconstruct the valley. My arrangement with the client was: If the leak was not caused by my work, I pay nothing. If I caused the leak, I pay for everything, (including ceiling repair). It turns out the valley was installed incorrectly with many deficiencies: There was no paper in the valley, there were nails through the sheet metal, there was no mastic and the sheet metal was allowed to bulge up to allow a sub-valley away from the actual center of the valley and there was a hole in the paper right above the leak. This same thing happened to us a year ago on a tile roof. We were able to deconstruct the valley ourselves and the roofing estimator who had originally blamed us came right back over and verified we were not to blame. I am relating this to the Wrenches list because any of you could have this happen to you. The moral: Don't be quick to accept blame for a roof leak. Inspect valleys carefully for debris. Shingles or tile should not encroach too closely to the center of the valley. Look for mastic under the shingles. Don't be afraid to lift tiles and look for water staining and debris trails. Good luck out there! William Miller William Miller Miller Solar Voice :805-438-5600 email: will...@millersolar.com http://millersolar.com <http://millersolar.com/>License No. C-10-773985
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