If you have to ask ‘why is my roof leaking’, chances are you’re having a bad day. It only makes sense that dripping water would be cause for alarm. However, the task of figuring out how to stop the water from dripping is not necessarily a simple one.why is my roof leaking

There are a variety of reasons that your roof may be leaking. Before you can successfully stop the leak, you need to identify the source. Doing this is also likely to lead you to the cause of the leak.

Identifying the Source of the Leak

Before going any further, it bears mention that this is general advice. If you’re not sure of your ability to identify or fix the leak, get professional help from National Home Improvement, Inc. We are always ready!

When you have a leak in your ceiling, you can usually look up and spot the problem area. If you don’t treat the leak swiftly, or the water flow doesn’t stop, you may even have plaster fall from your ceiling.

Once you identify where the water from the leak ends up, then you can begin to see where it came from. Water from leaks travels down until it reaches the insulation, and this is where real problems occur. Finding the actual leak can be as simple as using a flashlight to trace the path of the water. You just go in reverse, beginning at the point where it drips into your insulation or your plaster, and then you trace backwards. Eventually, you will find the source.

If that doesn’t work, or if you just don’t have an attic, here are a few other places you should check. Start by getting up on the roof, and carefully inspecting the following:

  • Gaskets around pipes.
  • Gutters. Be sure to check your box gutters for rust, if you have box gutters.
  • Shingles. Inspect them for signs of damage. This could include raised or lifted shingles.
  • Dormer valleys. A dormer is a roofed structure that projects vertically from the plane of the roof of a house. They’re usually windows of some sort. The dormer valley is the valley formed by the jutting walls of the dormer.
  • Boots. A boot is the rubber seal around plumbing vent pipes, air vents, exhaust fan flashing, and electric service pipes. If the plastic is cracked or broken, it is likely to leak.
  • The ridge cap of your roof. This is the area where two sides of a roof meet. Check it for damage to the shingles that make up the cap, or for missing shingles.

If you still can’t find the source of the leak, it’s time to call an experienced Littleton roofer.

Common Causes Of Roof Leakage

There is more to a roof than just shingles and wood and tar paper. Here are just a few of the common causes of a roof leak:

  1. Clogged gutters. If you can see leaves in your gutters from ground level, you have clogged gutters. If you have clogged gutters, water isn’t going to properly move out of your gutters, and that makes it more likely it’ll seep into the roof.
  2. Cracked flashing. Flashing are very thin pieces of metal that are installed beneath shingles and on the joints of the roof. They are subject to normal wear and tear. If your flashing has breaks in it, that may be the source of your leak.
  3. Damaged or broken shingles. After a heavy storm with a lot of wind, torrential rains, or extreme hail, your shingles may break. This is easy to spot, thankfully.
  4. Improper sealing. This happens with valleys (areas where two sections of roof come together), and it can happen around pipes and vents on the roof. It can even happen around the chimney if the mortar wears away.

Now that you’ve identified where the leak is coming from and why you have a leak in the first place, you have enough knowledge to fix the problem. Give our Littleton roofing experts a call or contact us online, and we’ll be able to investigate further and make sure that you’ve found the only leak. We’ll also provide you with a free estimate for repair!