leak mystery...please help!!

Since the previous posters seem to be very knowledgeable about drain pipes, may I ask a bit of a different question? I have been struggling with a leak into the 1st floor extension of my house. Above the area where there is a leak is a deck. We have re-roofed the deck and done a water test on the deck and it doesn't seem to be the deck surface causing the leak. We also have a leader pipe coming down from the roof and entering the house very close to the area of the leak. I am now thinking that perhaps there is some way water is leaking out of this pipe and into the extension. Does this sound possible--and if so, would I also call a Roto-rooter type person for this or does a contractor need to open up the wall and investigate? This problem has been going on for 3 years and I can't stress how desperate I am to solve this mystery. Thanks so much! julie

Posted by: julier at April 11, 2009 8:33 PM in response to washer drain and rain pipe issue

Thanks so much for the feedback. Really appreciate it I am going to review the links carefully. We will try the hose test this weekend. My fear is that it will only
work on one of the outer brick walls of the extension or just the deck but not the facade of house where the water cascades when it rains heavily as all of that water will go onto the deck and we still won't be able to pinpoint the area of the leak. No matter what, I will fix the problem so the water no longer cascades--any reccs for a roofer?

Posted by: julier at November 24, 2008 8:36 AM in response to leak mystery...please help!!

Who's your broker? Happy with them? I am really surprised about 6.00. Is that within the this year's conforming limit for a jumbo? We are still above that amount. Grrrrrr.

Posted by: julier at September 11, 2008 3:00 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

Thanks for the input. But do folks agree that one can get a lower rate with a broker vs. going directly though your existing bank/or another bank? And would the savings on the fees generally make a bigger difference than a lower rate with a broker? I suppose all of this depends on the amount of the mortgage. But being that we have a jumbo--even with the new limit--I am just hoping to do the right thing.

Guessing what is going to happen with mortgage rates is really tough for me and I feel like any input from a mortgage broker is about convincing me to refinance so they can get paid.

Posted by: julier at September 10, 2008 9:43 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

I am considering refinancing my jumbo as well but still have 3 years on current fixed rate of 5.5 so I am hesitant. Hoping rates go down a bit before I pull the trigger. Here's my ?: My mortgage is with Chase and when I recently spoke with them about refinancing directly with them they said I could save a lot of $ on fees by doing it with them and not with a mortgage broker--especially in NY. Is this true? Do folks generally go with mortgage brokers for refinancing? It was my understanding, that despite logic, one could actually get lower rates using brokers. Any advice would be great.

Posted by: julier at September 10, 2008 1:49 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

Chase is correct because if you refinance with the existing bank, they can do a note modification where they swap out just the promissory note and replace it with another note with the new rate, but they don't touch the mortgage itself, which saves you admin and recording fees.

HOWEVER, in this climate I'm surprised that Chase or the other big boys would still be willing to do that, since I thought they were trying to dial down their exposure to loans on their books. Maybe Chase is in a better position than the others.

Posted by: NorthHeights at September 10, 2008 3:05 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

If I'm not mistaken, I think a loan or note modification can only happen if the terms don't change.

Posted by: BKRed at September 10, 2008 7:38 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

Thanks for the input. But do folks agree that one can get a lower rate with a broker vs. going directly though your existing bank/or another bank? And would the savings on the fees generally make a bigger difference than a lower rate with a broker? I suppose all of this depends on the amount of the mortgage. But being that we have a jumbo--even with the new limit--I am just hoping to do the right thing.

Guessing what is going to happen with mortgage rates is really tough for me and I feel like any input from a mortgage broker is about convincing me to refinance so they can get paid.

Posted by: julier at September 10, 2008 9:43 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

Here is some clarification on conforming, jumbo, and conforming agency jumbo. Anything 417k or under is conforming. Anything above 417k is jumbo. However, temporarily there is a program until the end of this year for loans between 417,001 to 729,750 to qualify under the conforming agency jumbo loan program. The rates are slightly higher than the conforming but lower than your standard jumbo.

Julier, I work for the bank. In this market, I think it is advantageous to go directly with the bank because of all the uncertainty in the market. At the end of the day mortgage brokers are middlemen. The banks they deal with can change a loan on them on a flip of a switch. I have been on the broker side and sometimes rates can be lower. But if you work with a top producing loan officer from a bank, they should be able to get you a pretty competitive rate as well. As far as the CEMA to avoid repaying mortgage tax, you can do that with almost any lender, doesnt have to be Chase.
You have a 5.5% but only good for 3 years. If you can lock into something like 5.75% for 30 years then I would say go for it. Anyone that tells you where mortgage rates are going doesnt know anything. No one knows. Im sure you want he best rate possible but now is not the time to get greedy. What will you do if rates go back up and you never find an opportunity to refinance at a low rate? Sure you will have 5.5% for 3 years then it will go up. You will probably see lots of volatility in rates the next few weeks and 5.5% is not out of the question but when was the last time we saw the 30 year fixed that low? But if rates hit 5.5% I will be sure to post it. Just my thoughts.
sunny_hong@countrywide.com

Posted by: shong1 at September 11, 2008 1:13 AM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

I revise my view from above. Somehow my mortgage broker managed to unlock us from 6.375 and relock us at 6.00 on our jumbo loan so I guess rates could still go down farther. Locking at 6.00 certainly is pretty good though so I don't know how much longer I would ride it out personally.

Posted by: wasder at September 11, 2008 12:58 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

Who's your broker? Happy with them? I am really surprised about 6.00. Is that within the this year's conforming limit for a jumbo? We are still above that amount. Grrrrrr.

Posted by: julier at September 11, 2008 3:00 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

I am happy with my mortgage broker in that I am happy with the rate we got. Her name is Susan Gersh and she is on the Upper West Side. I apologize for not being more up on the details of the conforming limit but I am unsure how to answer you question about that.

Posted by: wasder at September 11, 2008 4:24 PM in response to Will Jumbo Rates go down further?

It's seems trite to say: remember that gravity works, water will seek it's own level and will follow the path of least resistance. In our case that meant that water running down the façade exited through an indoor ceiling light fixture three feet away. A good roofer with experience should be better able than you to identify the source of your leak. There are many past posts to the Forum on roofs and roofers. Read up before you have someone come over and quote your job. Although This Old House deals mostly with pitched roofs, it might be good for you to read through their articles. The first link is to an article on flat roofs, though it's dated and you cannot torch a roof in NYC. The second link contains links to many more:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,1110914,00.html
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/roofing

Posted by: vinca at November 24, 2008 10:32 AM in response to leak mystery...please help!!

I had a similar problem & it turned out that the caulk around the window above the extension needed redoing.

Posted by: Arkady at November 24, 2008 11:59 AM in response to leak mystery...please help!!

you never should be dumping your w/d into a roof drain...a roof drain is a seperate entity entirely ...wgoever did this was an idiot...hire a real plumber to correct this , as it violatesplumbing code

Posted by: eman1234 at April 11, 2009 11:01 PM in response to washer drain and rain pipe issue