# Advice about metal roof leaking please?



## Catalytic (Sep 15, 2010)

Bought our house a year ago. It has a metal roof that is about 8-9 years old. I don't know whether the previous owner did it himself or paid a roofing company, working on getting that information.

I paid an inspector before we bought the house, and it was also inspected for our VA mortgage. (Mind you, I am VERY ignorant about how all this works, we bought the house from 6000 miles away, and it is the first house we have purchased)

6 months after we bought the house, kid comes to me and says water is running down the bathroom window. WTH? Can't be rain coming in, we have a 23' wide porch that window opens to.

I call the inspector, because he did make a note in his report that some screws for metal roofing were recalled a few years ago. He immediately says he will be out in the morning to look at the roof. His mom passes away that night, he calls me and says he's sending a builder friend to look at the roof. No problem, I've met the builder, we were going to hire him for an addition when we bought the house, and then decided we really like the porch, so we didn't do the addition.

Builder comes, looks at the roof, says something weird was done at the line where the house roof meets the porch roof. (He explained it, but I've forgotten what he said) Says for a few hundred bucks he can put some kind of sealant up there that should last a few years. So I pay him, he puts the sealant on, no more leaks. This was in March, I think. 

(In March and April we had lots of hail and wind and heavy rain, many houses in the area had major roof damage)

Fast forward to last week. We had a heavy rain, and DH notices we have water running down the wall in the laundry room, which was added when the porch was, and shares the porch roof. Then we notice the pantry (part of the house) has rather large stains on the ceiling that we are 99% certain were NOT here when we bought the house. They are definitely not noted in the inspector report, and they are large enough my mom or best friend would have noticed them when they came to check out the house for us. We assume they are from the recent leak into the laundry room.

Called my insurance company to question whether it is possible we have roof damage from the storms, I know we *shouldn't* with the metal roof, but we *shouldn't* have any leaks with a metal roof at this age, either.

They say it's possible but rare, and did I hire an inspector before we bought the property. Something in the way it was said leads me to believe it would be a bad thing if my inspector did not catch this? Not sure how to explain it, but the insurance company recommended contacting the inspector. They offered to send an adjuster, but until I am sure what the damage is, and whether it could be from wind/rain/hail, I'd prefer not to get a ding on my insurance premiums. Insurance will not cover a failing seal? or a bad install.

My question is, is the inspector liable if he missed a bad install on this roof? Should I call HIM again and have him come see what the problem is? Hubby and I are ignorant about this stuff, we wouldn't have a clue what we were looking for if we went on the roof ourselves, so we will have to hire someone to figure it out.

The builder said replacing the roof would run about $20K, unfortunately I don't have that kind of money laying around at the moment. I really don't have the money to hire someone to fix it, even if it's darn near free, but obviously I will have to find it.

Advice? (Yes, I'm more than a little miffed that we were told it's a 30 year roof, less than 10 years old, and it's leaking in multiple places!)


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## Elevenpoint (Nov 17, 2009)

On a metal roof there should be a transition piece if where the porch and house have a different pitch. This would be a piece of metal that goes under the metal roofing at the end of the house roof and then overlaps on top of the beginning of the porch roof. This should have a pre formed self adhesive strip of rubber that fits on top of the porch roof and the transition piece covers this making a seal.


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## Narshalla (Sep 11, 2008)

No, house inspectors are not liable for anything they miss.


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## Catalytic (Sep 15, 2010)

elevenpoint said:


> On a metal roof there should be a transition piece if where the porch and house have a different pitch. This would be a piece of metal that goes under the metal roofing at the end of the house roof and then overlaps on top of the beginning of the porch roof. This should have a pre formed self adhesive strip of rubber that fits on top of the porch roof and the transition piece covers this making a seal.


Thanks eleven, how do I know if it's failing/failed? Do I need to pull up panels? I do have a roofing company coming out sometime next week for an estimate and to see what they think the leak(s) were caused by. I called the company that had been a BBB member longest, as i don't know anyone to ask for a reference.


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## Elevenpoint (Nov 17, 2009)

The piece will go over the top of the porch panels, right under this piece of metal you should see or feel a piece of rubber foam there. It will be on the house part also and there should be screws holding it on the leading edge, if you look at it you will see it. This foam is designed to keep heavy, blowing rain from entering this area. May be your problem, may not. The replacement foam is about .15 - .25 a foot.


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

Eleven point is right. Be nice if when you go up and could take a pic in the area and post. the one bad thing about metal roofs is it can be just one nail put in the wrong place that will leak, If that is the case you can just put some silicone around it after you clean it well. Do you know if it leadks in light rian or heavy or both?


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## Catalytic (Sep 15, 2010)

We only know it leaks in heavy rain, but it could be leaking in light rain, too.

I got in touch with the previous owner, he had the roof done, and gave me the number of the guy that did it. He's coming Monday to see what's going on.

Depending on what he says, I may be back bothering you guys for advice. I'll send hubby up for pics after the guy comes.


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