When you have a continuing drip from your ceiling, locating roof leaks can become your obsession. Roof leaks can disrupt your sleeping (no one enjoys listening to the noise of drops falling in to a pail). Most importantly, it may harm your flooring and wall surfaces, therefore reducing the value of your home. While it seems like it would be simple to determine the place where a leak is originating from, it can really be quite challenging. Regardless of whether you’ve got a flat roof, or one with shingles, you have to taking action immediately. Frequently, the location in which the leaking is coming from doesn’t correspond to the location where the actual hole in the roof is. You’ll have to investigate to discover the source.

Potential Trouble Spots to Check

Chimneys
Bricks and mortar equally can pass water, and quite often lots of it. The situation here is the same as with the crown- the freezing and thawing all throughout the winter with the producing damage which in turn causes leaks inside your home. Hunt for holes around your chimney but not just the base of the chimney but also the bricks themselves. Also check out the Chimney’s flashing, the flashing is what keeps water from entering the place where the brick structure comes through the roof. There is usually a fairly large gap between the bricks and the roof and water will pour through that hole if it’s not sealed properly.

Skylights
Commonly skylights are probably the very first places to look simply because they may not have the same sealing strength as your roof. In case your skylight opens up, examine that it’s completely shut, and that weather seals are in great condition. Additionally, consider whether or not the leak happens only in the winter months, in fall, or when there’s compacted snow or ice on the rooftop. If you do, take a look at the rear of the skylight for leaves, ice, snow or other debris that could be obstructing the down hill flow of water and resulting in it to backup underneath the roof shingles.The first step in checking your skylight for any leaking problems is to identify the source of the leak with a thorough inspection. You’ll want to make sure the leak is not just excessive condensation that has moved along the underside of the glass and dripped down the side of the interior. This happens more frequently in cold climates, in single-glazed skylights, as well as in moist places like bathrooms and kitchen areas.

Pipe Vents
All of the plumbing fixtures in your residence require air supplied to the drainpipes for the liquid to flow correctly, and also the pipes poking through the roof exist to provide it. Every home is required to have a minimum of one plumbing vent above the roof, and many have several. If the vent pipe does not have a flashing boot or has been sealed with tar or black mastic caulking, it also may become a source of a leak on your roof. Also make sure that all the pipe connections in your homes plumbing vent system have been correctly made and sealed. Especially with plastic piping it is possible to have an installer to push vent pipe sections together while failing to remember the glue. If you reside in region vulnerable to substantial snowfall and/or ice they could very easily tear a plumbing vent right off the roof, risking both roof leaks and plumbing vent condensate leaks into the roof’s structure or other parts of your home.

Flashings
Flashings are the transitional components of material that connect your roof to the rest of the house. They are typically made from materials that occasionally corrode or rust, and therefore are subject leaking. Particularly, should they have recently been repaired close to the same time you began observing the leak, a bad repair job might have left these flashings more prone to leaks. Look at these areas for holes to make sure they are definitely not the culprit.