In March we had some very heavy rains and, as a result, our first roof leak. It was not a fun experience and has made us more than a tad vigilant about getting up on the high roofs to check the drains and scuppers, so much so that we’re going to invest in installing real safety ladders to access them.
One Monday morning I walked from my office to the kitchen and noticed the foyer floor was wet. I looked up and there was water dripping from the ceiling. So there was a mad dash to grab a ladder from the garage and climb up to the roof to assess things. I climbed back down, grabbed the pump we use to clear the pool cover of water and set it to work on the roof. I then pulled the drain trap back up from where it had been sucked into the drain, and went back into the house to clean the mess.
You can just see the water level had fallen and was now below the flashing. Because the drain filter had gotten sucked downward and water didn’t go the way it should have, the whole roof filled up with water like a paddling pool, and dribbled down inside once it reached the flashing. This explains the old leak damage inside the house, and now that we know what causes it, we can make sure it doesn’t happen ever again.
Once the water was sopped up, we got rid of all the wet drywall to expose the beam and allow it to dry out. Thankfully we have a good relationship with our neighbors, one of which is a GC, who offered to repair the mess for us. It only took him a couple of hours and once we paint it (we’re debating on repainting it to match what is there or repainting the hall area a different color altogether), only we, the neighbor, and you readers will know what happened.
