Weird problem with roof leak. It leaks when there is no rain. Fixed!

[alfredo]

Last edited Thu May 19, 2022, 10:31 AM - Edit history (1)

I have a cathedral ceiling, no attic, no appliances nearby. It only leaks every few days.
Fixed.

The roofer added vents to combat excessive moisture.

[Rebl2]

1. Dew or melting snow?

[alfredo]

9. No snow or rain to contribute to these random leaks

[Blue Owl]

2. Do you live in the north or have ice/snow on your roof?

I’ve had ice dams before that bring melted water in through the ceiling….

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Sounds like when there's enough moisture in the air, no leaks since the roof has absorbed some

moisture thru the air (thus the roofing has expanding, blocking access for the water).

When there's no moisture/rain, the roofing 'wood panels' shrink a little thus allowing water to pass ... so this shows (1) don't have enough tar paper on the top surface (underneath the actual shingles, whatever you have on your roof) (2) I am surprised that you have that much 'give and take' on roof shrinkage. I wouldn't normally expect that much of a movement.

Maybe a humidifier too, to put more moisture into the air inside the home?

I remember when I had a leak, and it wasn't the roof, it was the moisture actually seeped through the mortar of my bricks in the home.

So a good tuckpointing job did the trick as well as waterproofing it afterwards.

[alfredo]

10. The humidity stays in the low forties.

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. Que the Twilight Zone music

I also have a leak that I can't find. But, it is a proper one that only performs when it rains.

[taxi]

5. Fixing a Hole, The Beatles

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go

[Phoenix61]

6. Check all flashings. I had a leak around the plumbing vent.

Drove me nuts because the drip was at an a/c register about 7 feet down slope from the vent pipe. My gutter guy recommended Geocel ProFlex. Stuffs amazing. It held up to Hurricane Michael and that was several years after I had applied it.

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. Thank you for the advice and I will check that stuff out.

[Kali]

7. can it be condensation from inside the house?

[quakerboy]

11. Probably nothing even remotely like my recent experience

But..

I had a pipe leaking.. but at unpredictable moments.. and never when i was actually using water or when it was raining.

Turned out it was a drain pipe from an upstairs bathtub.. But a previous renovator had noted what I assume was at the time a tiny drip.. and had placed a small plastic wastebasket below it, inside the wall. Over the course of a decade or two.. the leak slowly increased.. but it only became apparent when the water was enough to fill the basket and overflow. And that would evaporate out at different rates.

All of which made for a lot of confusion about how, what and why it was happening until the wall was opened up.

[alfredo]

12. Resolved! Thanks for helping.