Water leak from my ceiling when it snows

I have a brownstone with a flat roof. Anytime it snows, I get a water leak where water starts dripping from my ceiling. I do have an attic crawl space and noticed that there is no insulation up there, so I think it’s a condensation problem between the heat of the house and the cold outside which is aided by the snow. I have run a few tests with running water with a garden hose and have pretty much ruled out a roof leak. This has been a reoccurring issue for the past 5 years. Does anyone have any idea what can possibly be my problem? The roof is 10 years old and both roofers I called said to just redo the roof (I felt they just wanted a roofing job) and they were both unsure if that would resolve the problem. Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

mutley

in Roofing 4 years and 6 months ago

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hkapstein | 4 years and 6 months ago

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My feeling is that it’s most likely a leak rather than a condensation issue. When snow melts in the sun, it may put water pressure on places that wouldn’t have it in rain or possibly even with a hose test. Ice dams could cause water to pool where it normally wouldn’t. Obviously this is just speculation because I haven’t seen the roof or the damage or anything, but if snow on the roof caused typically caused condensation leaks in the attic space, I think we’d all know about this problem. Check all areas of flashing, and seal anything suspicious with roofing cement. If it works, note where you sealed it because you may need a more permanent solution in the future such as flashing.

@cate: I have a tip on the mystery leak. Since you say it’s a mystery, one thing that could help is a masonry sealant like siloxane. I found this is often the answer to your kind of mystery, and it doesn’t mess up the chimney like tarring it up could. You may need to do it every couple y ears, but it’s cheap and easy. Now it could be something else, but I assume you checked the flashing and damper since you say it’s a mystery.

cate | 4 years and 6 months ago

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Bob, would you mind sharing your roofer and who was able to fix the flue leak for you? Did they repair the brick of the chimney? We have a mystery leak in or near one of our chimneys. Thank you.

RobertGMarvin

in Roofing 4 years and 6 months ago

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We had a leak similar to what Steve described several years ago when there were bad ice storms. The solution was to install a newer type of gutter attached to the rear wall with a flange so that the gutter no longer sits directly on the rear parapet. Some deteriorated bricks also had to be replaced along with a couple of feet of the wooden roof deck. Of course it could be many other things. We had a leak a few years before we had a leak caused by deterioration of an unused flue serving one of our disconnected gas fireplaces.

stevecym | 4 years and 6 months ago

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Where is the leak? Near the rear wall? The snow could be clogging the gutter and water could be entering the void between the roof membrane and top of the mortar wall. We had a leak like that here, though it was not snow but leaves that caused the water back up in the gutter.

RobertGMarvin

in Roofing 4 years and 6 months ago

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Too bad you didn’t call the roofer 5 years ago when it was probably under warranty

RobertGMarvin

in Roofing 4 years and 6 months ago

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Perhaps a problem with the flashing