Water Beneath Felt Roof...!!!

dlockers · 29 Sep 2021 at 18:18

Guys, this is absolutely driving me up the wall. I had an issue when I bought my place about a year into it - water ****** through the kitchen ceiling. Nightmare. I had the roof replaced. 6 months later it happened again. Turns out the guttering was blocked, over flowing, and it was finding its way through the extension wall/house.

I had further work done to add the lead saddle, repoint the wall and replace the flashings.

Just took went to the toilet and noticed it has filled up with water again...........!!!

What is causing this to happen?!

Video (in James Peach style):
https://imgur.com/gallery/HjPhvz6

Steampunk · 29 Sep 2021 at 19:01

Have you thought of going for EPDM instead?

Dis86 · 29 Sep 2021 at 19:02

I can see a few potential issues tbh. First question though, how're the gutters looking?

dlockers · 29 Sep 2021 at 19:17

Steampunk said:
Have you thought of going for EPDM instead?

I've spanked about £1600 so far on this one and its only just over a year old so not at all high on my list at the moment.

Dis86 said:
I can see a few potential issues tbh. First question though, how're the gutters looking?

I'll double check they are clear tomorrow, hard to tell from the video but the guttering runs the full length of mine and my neighbours house so providing they're still clear, there shouldn't be any water making its way onto the lead saddle... this was just me being overly cautious when I spotted the issue.

Please do share thoughts on the issues.......several pints in it

Dis86 · 29 Sep 2021 at 19:19

dLockers said:
I've spanked about £1600 so far on this one and its only just over a year old so not at all high on my list at the moment.

I'll double check they are clear tomorrow, hard to tell from the video but the guttering runs the full length of mine and my neighbours house so providing they're still clear, there shouldn't be any water making its way onto the lead saddle... this was just me being overly cautious when I spotted the issue.

Please do share thoughts on the issues.......several pints in it

Well, that upstand wall will track water through it for a start. That will penetrate under the felt.

Can't see any lead or sealant at the top of the felt on that wall either. Almost looks like it's just mortared in?

BigBoy · 29 Sep 2021 at 22:33

Poorly installed roof! replace it with EDPM spend the extra cash and get it properly fitted and the problem wont exist.

dlockers · 29 Sep 2021 at 22:49

BigBoy said:
Poorly installed roof! replace it with EDPM spend the extra cash and get it properly fitted and the problem wont exist.

Water clearly getting it from behind so not sure how edpm will solve the problem

Dis86 said:
Well, that upstand wall will track water through it for a start. That will penetrate under the felt.

Can't see any lead or sealant at the top of the felt on that wall either. Almost looks like it's just mortared in?

Yeah it's chased in but that isn't uncommon. I did lead on the bit where it hit the house.

At this point I'm starting to think it may be coming behind the render

radderfire · 29 Sep 2021 at 22:56

Does water pool on the roof? Does the water appear under the felt only after pooling?

BigBoy · 29 Sep 2021 at 23:09

Is the render sand and cement base or is it a K-Rend or similar product. The only time I've seen a roof so young with a bulge like that its because it was not installed correctly, Heated bitumen/tar is the only way to seal a felt roof.

Delvis · 29 Sep 2021 at 23:39

Where the water is gathering....have you check the other end? What's the gradient to it like for instance?

gort · 30 Sep 2021 at 07:57

I feel your pain.
Had several rain water leaks over the past year or so and a new one popped up this week. This is all in relation to newish shoddy building work under 8 years old. It's a right PITA at times to fully diagnose without a load of faff, as where the build up of water is isn't always where the ingress actually is.

ANDARIAL · 30 Sep 2021 at 08:52

Do you have a cavity wall tray installed?
how deep was the lead cut into the wall?needs to be about at least 30mm in my experience
Also no lead on side wall

dlockers · 30 Sep 2021 at 10:23

This roof has been a nightmare since day dot but mostly due to shoddy tradesman. When the roof was replaced nothing was leaded.

I paid an additional £700 to another builder to change the flashings and they had done the same thing as in the video, but unfortunately he just went on top of the old flashings and a brick further up to chase into the wall

He then only did the lead saddle so I got him back to do the bit under the window but we both decided messing with the longer run with lead was OTT and given how few bricks were "above it" it may do more harm than good.

I don't think lead is the problem here as the piece I'm touching in the video is sealed..

Will read your responses properly and have a good poke around later...

ANDARIAL · 30 Sep 2021 at 10:28

cavity wall tray will stop water getting into the cavity and running down inside of external brickwork and going through ceiling
video looks like water is getting under felt somehow
My guess is it is getting behind the leadwork unless there is holes or cracks in the membrane

dlockers · 30 Sep 2021 at 10:36

ANDARIAL said:
cavity wall tray will stop water getting into the cavity and running down inside of external brickwork and going through ceiling
video looks like water is getting under felt somehow
My guess is it is getting behind the leadwork unless there is holes or cracks in the membrane

Ahhhhhhhhhh I think we may have a winner then.

When the roof was first replaced, the bloke didn't chase out the old felt, he just went a brick or two up the upstand.

When the flashings were replaced, the bloke didn't chase out the old felt, he just went another brick or two up the upstand.

I guess it is possible now that the flashings are above the cavity tray and the water is being leaked between the two layers of felt.....!

IceBear · 30 Sep 2021 at 11:38

Sounds like a reasonable assumption.

SquirrelMadness · 30 Sep 2021 at 11:40

Paint it with Cromapol until you figure out a permanent solution. £27 a tub at the forest, make sure to paint where you think the leak is entering from (could be at the wall).

SquirrelMadness · 30 Sep 2021 at 11:44

Also check these guys on YT:

It's a 3 part video with a more difficult flat roof then you got. Use Cromapol to buy you some time until nice weather, then follor above vid when it's sunny as a DIY job... and since you're saving money doing iot as DIY you can copy exactly what they did and add insulation as well.

SimonR · 30 Sep 2021 at 14:43

EDPM is not a cure all. It can suffer the same problems as felt if not installed properly. I have seen quite a few leaking EDPM roofs leak

fastwunz · 30 Sep 2021 at 17:18

Cavity tray failure (if there is one)