Sneaky water is sneaky

[jducoeur]

*Sigh*. I really didn't need this right now.

I had *thought* that I was doing okay, roof-wise -- a small leak in the bay window due to the ice dam there, but no other signs of trouble. I knew that there were a few ice dams elsewhere, but thought that they weren't causing too much melt. I *have* been worried about roof collapse, but not too much about leakage, since there is no sign of dripping through the roof itself. Naive me.

I just discovered that the ceiling of the guest bedroom is totally trashed -- I walked in there to put something away, found the floor wet, a steady single drop dripping, and a mild but dangerous bulge in the ceiling. So I followed the advice from the TV yesterday: I put a (big) bucket in the desired location, grabbed an awl, and punched several holes in the drywall. A good gallon came through in the first couple of minutes.

There *still* is no apparent drip in the attic, so my best guess is that the ice dam is causing leakage right at the edge of the house, down by the soffits -- instead of going over the edge, it's flowing inward, and finally pooling about five feet into the room.

Pain in the tuchus. The ceiling is clearly a loss, so for now I'm just punching holes as needed and accepting that I'll need to replace it come spring. In the meantime, I dearly hope nothing else breaks horribly...

Comments

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Good thing you noticed it. A controlled failure is better than uncontrolled.

If/when it becomes time, there are very good membranes that get put under shingles these days, that stop water from getting into the roof if ice dams happen. Our roof is steel with that stuff under it, and the steel results in no ice dams; suspenders and a belt! Some folks go with steel margins and then normal roof shingles further up - a lower cost hybrid that also solves the problem.

Oh: And Lowell's wife is in the biz, and he posted elsewhere that roof collapse is the failure mode for flat roofs; pitched roofs fail via ice dams and leaking and only rarely rarely by collapse. This reassured us.

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

Well, if you decide to DIY it, I've sadly become fairly decent at ceiling drywall patching. I've got a largish patch in the downstairs bathroom from the installation of the new fan that I just haven't gotten around to yet.

[marysdress.livejournal.com]

We had an ice dam that caused water damage in the oldest's room shortly before he was born. It was a time when there were lots of ice dams like now. The insurance company was shifting adjusters up here, but they were overwhelmed. In the end, we sent them pictures and they just sent us a check because we were on a hard deadline and they pretty much gave up. They did cover everything.

Yours and our favorite carpenter on call replaced the upstairs bathroom ceiling for us in the last year or two. He does ceilings...

[cellio]

Ugh. Better to deal with it now when you can semi-control it than later, but it still sucks that you have to deal with it at all. :-(

[serakit.livejournal.com]

Apparently there's an ice dam in the house I'm living in and my father is worrying about it and calling out contractors to fix it. (There's a long, dramatic story involved in the discovery of said ice dams because my cousins noticed them and didn't tell anyone about it. I had noticed the water but not realized what it meant or what an ice dam was.) While he was calling contractors and complaining over the emergency it represented, I pointed out that it could be much worse and held your ceiling up as an example. His response was "Wow, that guy is not having a good year."

[dragonazure.livejournal.com]

Ouch. At least you caught it before it became a minor disaster. Many years ago, when I was renting a small house, the roof over the kitchen developed a leak and I was lucky enough that it pooled on the ceiling right above the sink.

[pelican-girl.livejournal.com]

That happened to the house I grew up in. The interior dining room ceiling collapsed while all around it was fine. Turned out to be a horizontal leak/seepage that found a low spot.