Tips on How to Find Out if Your Roof is Leaking

If your roofing in Seattle is more than 7 to 10 years old, it’s important that you are continually inspecting it to make sure you have not developed a roof leak. Staying on top of roof repairs in Seattle ensures that your roof will last as long as it should and won’t become prematurely damaged so you have to replace it sooner than you would like. You can always hire a roofing contractor to come and inspect your roof if you’re not sure what you should be looking for, but if you prefer to check on your own, here is a quick guide to some of the things that might indicate a leak.

Look for Weaknesses in the Roofing

Water that is coming into your attic or your home is probably finding the “path of least resistance” to get there, which means to find the source of the leak you need to find the spot where water could most easily come through. On the shingles that could be an area where you have missing or loose nails, or it might also be where you have damaged flashing around things like skylights, chimneys, or vents. Another place that is more likely to suffer damage is along the areas where two roof planes intersect—the peaks and valleys.

Check from Underneath

Since the water is leaking from the top of the roof into your home, you can often find the source of the leak from your attic sooner than you would find it from on top of the roofing in Seattle. Go up to your attic during the day (preferably during a rainstorm if you can) and use a flashlight to see if you can find dripping water. The area where it’s dripping isn’t necessarily the source of the leak, so you might have to look up the rafters to see if the water has traveled down from a higher spot.

Inspect the Attic

You can also inspect the attic on dry days to look for signs of excess water, such as mold or mildew growth (which shows up as black streaks on the wood in your attic), wet insulation, or rusted nails and metal hinges on the underside of your Seattle roofing. If you spot any of these signs, call a roofing contractor right away to help you find and fix the source of the leak.