Leak In Attic Roof

Emma1980

Registered User
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Hi!
I have a converted attic bedroom, house was purchased As a new build 6 years and attic was already converted.

A couple of years back, a damp patch appeared on the ceiling which got progressively worse. There was also smaller damp circles appearing. I got a roofer out who said the felt was not pinned down proper and he repaired it, that was March 14.

In November, I noticed a small damp circle appear again and in a matter of days, more appeared worse than ever before. Contacted the roofer who was out but he ignored all calls and emails?!
Another roofer came out and he said there was absolutely nothing visually wrong wit the roof and suggested maybe it was piping....

Woke this morning to a small hole in the ceiling and water dripping from it....

A couple of questions :
Why would there be a pipe in the attic ceiling??
What sort of trades person doing need to help me with this??

Any advice much appreciated!
 
To bring water to and from the cold water storage tank is a likely reason.

I'd suggest you get up into the attic with a torch and try to find the source of the leak. If the roof is intact, then the most likely explanation is a leaking pipe which is steadily getting worse and is possibly being exacerbated by the cold weather. You'll need a plumber to fix that.
 
Hi Seamless...thanks for your reply.

Well the next plan was to cut a hole into the ceiling to see whats up there - my main concern is because its the attic bedroom and the ceiling is obviously at a slant, that we cut in the wrong place if you know what i mean!! The dampness is at the bottom of the slant and some of the smaller patches are at the top of the slant so seemingly its dripping downwards...

I've attached a picture if that's any use to anyone with suggestions!
 

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Being a converted attic space it'll be tricky locating the source. There are unlikely to be pipes running at that height in an attic, they'd usually be at floor level. Do you have any attic access remaining near the source? You could perhaps see if there are any pipes running at that level.

Most likely though, this is an issue with the roof covering, or ridge capping.

You can buy / rent inspection cameras that have a camera lens on a flexible extension that you can insert through a small hole in the ceiling to see what's going on. With sloping ceilings, the source of the leak will always be higher than where it shows on the inside, as water will run down along the felt, insulation, plasterboard until it gets to a joint or weak point. So if you're making holes, start at the top and work down.
 
ok, so next door had the same issue (and also other houses too), they said that there was a pipe up there and part of it was missing hence the leak and theirs is fixed now....

Leo, no, there is no access to the space other than cutting it open.... Would it still be a plumber that would be required then a plasterer to mend the ceiling?
 
ok, so next door had the same issue (and also other houses too), they said that there was a pipe up there and part of it was missing hence the leak and theirs is fixed now....

Leo, no, there is no access to the space other than cutting it open.... Would it still be a plumber that would be required then a plasterer to mend the ceiling?

If its a new build you moved and if its only 6 yars old into then you might be covered by homebond or else get the builder or propety developer back to sort this issue out.

Be carefull where a person cuts into the ceiling,as there may very well be electrical cables behind the plasterboard for lighting or drops for sockets in the room.
 
Homebond only cover structural issues, this won't qualify.

Having the benefit of the neighbour having the same issue, you should be able to get a good fix on the location to investigate. As Flowerman says, be careful cutting through the plasterboard. You can get special drywall cut out tools that allow you set a cut depth to remove shapes cleanly from plasterboard, but dremel type tool with a suitable bit would do the job too. Done neatly, a decent DIYer could replace the cut-out section and patch up without the need for a plasterer.
 
Homebond only cover structural issues, this won't qualify.

Having the benefit of the neighbour having the same issue, you should be able to get a good fix on the location to investigate. As Flowerman says, be careful cutting through the plasterboard. You can get special drywall cut out tools that allow you set a cut depth to remove shapes cleanly from plasterboard, but dremel type tool with a suitable bit would do the job too. Done neatly, a decent DIYer could replace the cut-out section and patch up without the need for a plasterer.

I learnt something new today.:)
 
Have a look back over the emergence of the pyrite issues to see how difficult it can be to get anything out of Homebond.

A good friend of ours was moved out of Clongriffin there 2 years ago for 6 weeks while the management company redid every townhouse and apartment that was affected by the pyrite.
I went and had a look at her townhouse one day while the work was being completed,and when I arrived at the front door there was a 3 foot drop down from the front door,where the builders had excavated out the entire ground floor area and all the concrete and foundations below.The builders would do a row of 5 townhouses in one go and then they would move on to the next 5 houses as the previous 5 house owners were allowed to move back in.

Our friend was back in her home within the 6 weeks,and they did a very good job.
 
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Hi all
Thanks for all the replies :)

So, the ceiling was cut yesterday evening to see what was going on up there....

I've attached a picture that was taken - the issue appears to be the tubing going into a vent. On the curve, thats where water was dripping from, also, OH said that a connection (don't ask me what sort of connection!!) in there was loose so he tightened that up.... There seemed to be a lot of water caught up in there......
 

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Its like an extractor vent. Probably condensation building up in the ribs.
 
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Well we were wondering if it was the vent from the extractor fan in the bathroom below......
 
I would assume so. Probably just came loose. You might consider replacing the pipe with rigid one. Though its lasted this long, just securing it might work ok.
 
...I arrived at the front door there was a 3 foot drop down from the front door,where the builders had excavated out the entire ground floor area and all the concrete and foundations below.The builders would do a row of 5 townhouses in one go and then they would move on to the next 5 houses as the previous 5 house owners were allowed to move back in.

Our friend was back in her home within the 6 weeks,and they did a very good job.

Your story does not make it clear if its homebond covering this work or the original builder. Or even its its Pyrite related.

Leaks are not a homebond issues anyway.
 
Hi again!
The last picture I posted of the vent, does anyone know where I could buy one?? Tried Brooks, Mannions, B&Q and no one had a clue what it even was???!!!
 
Would that white flexible pipe be leading to a vent in the roof. If so the white pipe could have a an amount of water lying in it at its lowest point (where the pipe is sagging) and there could be a tear in the pipe beside where the water is and there could be water coming out of it from time to time. Have you examined it closely.
 
Hi again!
The last picture I posted of the vent, does anyone know where I could buy one?? Tried Brooks, Mannions, B&Q and no one had a clue what it even was???!!!

Try Icon Bulding Products or ATC Ventilation.

Both companies are on the same road,Broomhill Road in Tallaght.

Ive dealt with both companies for ventilation products and both are very good to deal with.

http://iconbp.ie/

[broken link removed]

[broken link removed]
 
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