Repair of Leak on Roof

A client requested I locate and repair a leak on the roof of there commercial office building. On a previous trip to the job site I had located the source of the leak by going from the inside above the suspended ceiling and pulling away the insulation. Then a trip or two up to the roof, some measurements and bingo the leak was found. It was not going to be a easy fix as it would require the removal of metal siding and flashing to make inspect the condition the framing. I could see from below that it was an old leak and that the wood truss was rotted out by the water damage. Not a big leak, but small, and persistent over long period of time. Like years, the water was being absorbed by the wood for most of the time. With certain weather conditions the leak would intensify. The day I was at the job site it was raining very hard with a southerly wind. A slow leak was coming through and a tub was catching the water. Not a 911 situation, so I proposed I come back when it was not raining to remove the siding for an inspection, to follow up with a proposal for a long term repair.

On my next trip I drilled out the rivets holding the flashing and siding on, pulled some nails. The material under the siding was wet. There was structural damage to the framing. The flashing at the top of a parapet that housed a skylight was installed poorly and was the cause of the leak. This building has this same faulty detail through out. I will have to take my time on a recommendation for a long term repair, but for the short term I had a plan.

I installed a window wrap product called Vycor over the building paper at the corners that I had exposed. As I reinstalled the siding and flashing I embedded it in sealant. Instead of rivets I used screws with a rubber casket. This is not a pretty fix, but effective. In the coming weeks I will present the client with a proposal that will address the issues that lead to the rot, but for now they are dry.

It was a challenging day on the roof because it became quite windy. Stuff was attempting to fly away. The metal siding and flashing is light and the wind was playing tricks on me trying to fly it away. Back in the fall I was doing another project at this same site and noticed a bright banana yellow Porsche Boxer in the parking lot. I have been working on the building on and off for a few years and know most of the workers. I asked who has the Boxer? Then in a Russell Humor sort of way I went into his office and told him I will needed to give him my insurance information as I had just backed into his yellow car. I almost had him, but it was sort of not funny. Anyway the Vycor is in a 1 foot wide by 75 feet and ways about twenty pounds. The wind caught it and almost rolled it off the roof onto the boxer. Defiantly not funny!, but sort of in an ironic way.