Are Water Leaks Expected with Recent Roof Restoration?

Scorn on 08/02/2020 - 14:41

I had a roof restoration completed 6 months ago (June 2019), and this recent rain (Sydney) has had water coming in and there are noticeable wet patches in the gyprock directly below the ridge capping.

Is it expected that with amount of rain we've had, some would get through ridge capping? and i shouldnt be surprised?

Should i be contacting the company who completed the restoration? (already done, but wonder if they will blame the elements)
Or is this a home insurance claim?

I have also had solar panels installed (December), but the brackets installed are no where near the ridge, and the areas below the panel installation are dry in roof cavity.

Thanks in advance for your OzBargain wisdom.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • thatonethere on 08/02/2020 - 14:43
    +2

    Id get onto the roof restorers especially if they have some kind of "warranty. But they will likely say "unusually high level of rain beyond normal specifications"…

    • ribbonsofnight on 08/02/2020 - 15:50
      +2

      And they would be wrong. We haven't had an unusually high level of rain in Sydney. It could be that some districts have had pretty heavy rain but until you find a suburb where everyone's roof is leaking then new work should be doing fine.

  • garetz on 08/02/2020 - 15:09
    +1

    That should not be happening, contact the roofer and get warranty repairs. Sounds like subpar work done.

  • resubaehtgnolhcs on 08/02/2020 - 15:44
    +3

    Get the original restores out. Don't mention anything about the solar panel installation, otherwise they will try and use that as an excuse.

  • Euphemistic on 08/02/2020 - 15:52
    +1

    It shouldn’t leak. Get them back in straight away.

  • Elppa8 on 08/02/2020 - 16:11
    +4

    Possibly the weep holes are either blocked or not installed causing any water that has seeped through cracks around the ridge capping to build up and overflow into the interior of the roof. Will generally show up after long periods of rain like we’re having now.

  • [Deactivated] on 08/02/2020 - 18:35

    As you have access to the roof cavity climb in and look to see where you can see daylight (assumed it is tiled). Also make sure your gutters are cleaned - especially if you have a gutter 'valley' in your roof. Look for moisture/water on any pipework inside the roof - the water doesn't always hit the the ceiling directly below the roof - it may run along a pipe. Watch out for electrical hazards as there is water in the roof cavity. Make sure there is no water pooling in ceiling lights, etc. Also before you crawl around in the roof be aware the cable from the panels to the power board will be live, unless i's turned off at the actual panels.

  • HighAndDry on 08/02/2020 - 19:20

    1. Make sure weep holes and gutters are clear, lots of rain after long period of no rain could wash a lot of junk into the gutter that's been collecting on the roof.

    2. Solar panel installers might've broken roof tiles? Just a possibility if they were walking around that area.

    3. Depending on the shape and geometry of your roof, maybe especially windy rain has blown rain in via somewhere.

    • elgrande on 08/02/2020 - 21:55

      I think option 2 is highly likely.

  • Scorn on 12/02/2020 - 20:43
    +1

    Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Roof restorer came by this morning, and noticed cracking in pointing beyond normal (suggested due to ample foot traffic while installing solar panels).

    He repaired cracked pointing, made sure all weep holes were clear.

    I’ll get on with repainting Gyprock, and checking for any more leaks. Thanks again for your suggestions and thoughts.

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