In this video, we will show you how to find and diagnose a flat roof leak . There are
two types of flat roofs. The ones that leak and the ones that are going leak. Additionally,
many flat roof leaks are misdiagnosed and many times, unnecessary expensive repairs
are performed. The owner of this flat roof has had flat roof leaks since the day the
building was purchased which was roughly 10 years ago The building owner employed many
roofing contractors to make roof repairs which included the installation of new roof membranes,
installation of new flashing, and the installation of new top reflective sealant coating. After
all these repairs, the roof membrane still leaked. The building owner and his secretary
would control the roof leaks with buckets The last roofer decided to get an opinion
from a building scientist Marko Vovk (that would be I) to help diagnose the roof leaks.
The roofer cut the roof membrane and found trapped water. Water was running between roof
membranes and leaking at two different room locations below.
While on the roof, I asked the maintenance man to bring me a 5 gallon bucket full water.
I threw several cups or water to an upper elevation brick wall. The water beaded off.
I ask the maintenance man who sealed the brick. He said, that 10 years ago, when they bought
the building, the previous owner disclosed that the window at this location leaked and
it was repaired. He wasn't sure about and brick sealing. He stated that since this repair,
the window has not leaked. Well it was quite obvious that somebody 10 years ago knew it
was the brick that was leaking and not the window. This is why they sealed the brick
with what appeared to be a water resistant coating. While on the roof, I walk over to
the location where one of the roof leaks was occurring. A brick higher elevation roof wall
also existed at this area. I threw several cups of water onto this brick. This time,
the water was absorbed or sucked into the brick. Brick and mortar joints are naturally
absorbent; this is why you need weep holes in brick. This brick upper roof wall did not
have weep holes. This brick wall was once an exterior wall of an older building. The
building roof that has the two flat roof leaks was an addition that was built over 20 years
ago. The brick was getting saturated during long duration rains. This wall also faced
the southern and western exposure which is more susceptible to weather. The water was
getting sucked into Brick and mortar joints and running down that back side if the brick
in the ¾ capillary space. This newer addition building had roof joists that rested on pocket
ledges that were cut into the brick 20 years ago. Instead of water running down into lower
levels, it escaped at these cut pockets. This was going to be an easy fix. Simply by sealing
the exterior brick would fix this leak. I did warn the owner that when you seal brick,
it no longer breaths and the potential, of brick spalling may occured. I told the owner
to control indoor humidity by running a dehumidifier during cold climates. The reason for this
is that if you have high indoor humidity it will travel to the exterior through a vehicle
called vapor diffusion. If the brick is sealed, it will act like an exterior vapor barriers.
During the winter, it is cold, it freezes, and brick Spading can occur.
The second leak diagnostic was also simple. Directly above
this second leak was 12 year old H VAC unit. We cut into the roofing membrane at this location
and encountered moisture. I asked the maintenance man to be bringing me a second 5 gallon bucket
of water. This time, I dumped it into the HVAC unit fan area. It wasn't long before
the water started dripping into the room below. In the room below you could see a roof fasteners
rusted and dripping water. The secretary said, the roof would leak for several days after
rain storms. This leak existed for 12 years due the HVAC installation contractor not being
a roofer. This roof top unit had a roof duct penetration that was poorly sealed. The HVAC
installing contractor created this leak 12 years ago. This was also an easy repair. The
HVAC unit needed to be lifted and roof membrane needed to be replaced. Sometimes when looking
for leaks you need to apply some building science knowledge, not just roofing knowledge.
Sometimes, roof leaks are not roof membrane related as they were in this case. Please
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