My roof is leaking--there is drippage from some cracks in the ceiling
of one of the upstairs bathrooms. It's supposed to rain for several
more days in a row without letup. Is there anything I need to or can
do in the meantime to avoid serious damage?

Hello luvdusty-ga,

In the case of leaks coming through the ceiling, most sources
recommend making a hole in the ceiling as a temporary solution.

The hole lets the water drain out, preventing a build up of water
which could cause more serious damage, and could possibly cause the
ceiling to come down if enough water builds up.  According to
Rentals.com (http://www.rentals.com/owner/content2/newsArticle/newsArticle_084.html),

“A hole — a quarter inch in diameter or so — can become an easy place
for water to escape from the puddle above and can move major control
of a leak to "one collection location". If the ceiling were bulging
the lowest point of the bulge would be the place to punch the hole,
even if it weren't on center with the other leaks.”

A bucket or some type of container should be placed under the hole to
collect the water.

Other references that I found that make the same recommendation are:

AllAboutHome.com
http://www.allabouthome.com/tips/structure/roof.html#Anchor-Temporary-33896

RoofingMall.com
http://www.roofingmall.com/repair.html

IB Roof Systems
http://www.ibroof.com/html/homeowner/RIG/leak.cfm

Tribune India
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020825/spectrum/sunday.htm


If you have ceiling tiles, IB Roof Systems makes the following
recommendation:

“Ceiling tiles should be removed. Ceiling tiles will just spread the
leak from one tile to the next. If they are already damaged they will
not get any better if left in place. By taking them out, the water
should drip more directly from the underside of the roof deck to the
floor where buckets and plastic have now been placed.”

If the container gets rapidly filled, making it difficult to keep it
the water contained, Rentals.com provides a description of what they
describe as a “A jury rigged solution” to transport the water back
outside which requires a ladder, a garden hose, some duct tape and an
empty one-gallon plastic bottle.


I hope you have found this information helpful.  Please request
clarification if you don’t feel as though I have sufficiently answered
your question, or if you would like additional information.

Good Luck!
Googlenut



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---

Clarification of Answer by googlenut-ga on 14 Dec 2002 11:57 PST

Hello luvdusty-ga,

Thank you very much for the 5 star rating and for the tip!

I'm glad I could help.

Googleut

Thanks a lot! What a great service!!

If you live in a house with gutters, you should check to make sure
they are not clogged. Blocked gutters don't allow the water to drain
and so water gets backed up and can leak through the roof. We learned
this the hard way, twice!

Fisrt, while renting a house, the gutters were clogged (we'd never had
gutters before and didn't think about cleaning them out!) and we were
unfortunately subjected to a leaking roof and then 3 weeks of roof
repair in the middle of winter in Seattle, which only caused the roof
to leak even more while they were repairing it!

Then, when we moved into our own house (it has a flat roof with
downspouts) we noticed some leaking near the front door and kitchen.
It turned out to be a blocked downspout which caused the water to pool
and leak under a small tear in the tarpaper further up the roofline.
Luckily, we only had to clean out the downspout and add a little tar
to the rip and things were fine.

Good luck!