In March we had some very heavy rains and as a result we had our first roof leak. It was not a fun experience and it has made us more than a tad vigilant about getting up on the roofs to check the status of the drains and scuppers. So much so that we’re going to invest on installing actual real safety ladders to access the tall roofs.
But the story behind the leak and damage is this: 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 out to grab a ladder from the garage, climb up onto the roof to assess things. I then climbed back down the ladder, grabbed the pump we use to clear the pool cover of water and set it to work on the roof. Then I pulled the drain trap back up from where it had gotten sucked into the drain and went back into the house to clean up the mess.
You can just see the water level had fallen and that it was now below the flashing–because the drain filter had gotten sucked in downward and water didn’t go the way it should have, the whole roof filled up with water like a paddling pool and once it reached the flashing it dribbled down inside. This explains the old leak damage inside the house and now that we know what causes it, we can work to 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. He offered to repair the mess for us.
It only took him a couple of hours and once we paint it–(which we’re debating on if we just repaint it to match what is there or do we repaint the hall area a different color all together–only we and people who read this blog will know what happened.
