Originally Posted By: Jeff Nicholson This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I spent my afternoon walking through a turn-of-the-century multi-family home for which some friends of mine are thinking of making an offer. There’s no contract yet and this wasn’t an inspection… just a walk-through with me, their inspector friend. One of the first floor bedrooms had multiple water marks on the ceiling which tested wet.
The bedroom is underneath a second-story porch, which itself is underneath a portion of the main roof. Based on the location of the stains, I don’t think wind-driven rain is falling on the porch, I believe the water is trickling down through the roof somehow. There aren’t any obvious signs of water on the floor of the porch and the porch ceiling has recently been replaced (hmm…). The attic below the main roof has been finished into an apartment which is more or less inaccessible, so no clues as to roof leakage there. Can anyone think of a way to determine how widespread the roofing problems are? Can anyone think of a way other than a leaky roof that water could be entering the bedroom? If they make an offer on the house, I’ll do a full inspection, but I’m already puzzled by this. I hope the photos help:
Originally Posted By: John Bowman This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
ekartal wrote:
Too many possiblities. But I can assure you that wind driven rain will soak that porch easily.
Erol Kartal
I agree. Your pictures indicate that the porch floor is pretty well weather beaten. In addition you failed to mention what type of gutter systems were installed. Are they the old wooden trough types that may have rotted through the years. Perhaps the old wooden drops have rotted or are plugged within an exterior wall. Way too many possibilities to make an assumption based on these pictures.
Originally Posted By: Jeff Nicholson This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
There was steady rain all night before I saw the house and steady rain but little wind when I first checked out the porch… the sun had just come out when I took those photos. The porch was not wet during the storm…
There are new vinyl gutters on the lower roof. The upper roof has no gutters. The valley on the upper roof might dump rain onto the stairs in a windy situation, but the ceiling beneath the stairs was only one of the areas with water damage.
Originally Posted By: lewens This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I agree it is almost impossable to tell the origin of a leak like this.
It could be leaking at the chimney flashing and making its way down the hip across a rafter down the wall and poping out on the ceiling on the first floor. I am more inclined to think a rotted rim joist at the joint of tha second floor veranda, you can be pretty sure there is no flashing at that point.
Originally Posted By: jonofrey This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jeff,
My opinion (based on your photo's and statements) is that I suspect the moisture barrier and flashing under the second story porch is leaking.
The floor boards of the upper porch appear buckled. This indicates that wind driven rain does make it's way onto the flooring of the porch. From there it works it's way down. I think that you will find that water is working it's way down specifically around the base of the roman columns and/or the edges of the porch deck.
Originally Posted By: rsmith5 This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
The last time the roof covering was done under that porch was probably when the house was constructed. The rain could be splattering onto the porch or definitely could be blowing in on it. You said that the last rain was pretty straight down. How about the one three or four days earlier? How about the one last week? Last month? If there is no ventilation the lath and plaster will stay wet a long time in a humid environment. That deck looks mighty weathered. I agree that there is not an easy way of telling where water originates and this is compounded by limited interior inspection. A roofer will have to use the process of elimination by fixing all possible leaks and check after the next rain. Good luck!
Originally Posted By: Jeff Nicholson This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Thanks for all the help. The client isn’t going to get this house anymore, so the problem has become more theoretical to me. This would be a great one for someone with a thermal imaging camera!