The Leak Found! The Leak Fixed!
Of late, I have been bedeviled.
Bedeviled!
A few months ago, I stepped into the the Round Bedroom and discovered…oh, the horror…water dripping from the ceiling.
EEK!
The next day, I climbed a tall ladder set up on the west porch roof to see if I could ascertain the problem, which had to be between the west dormer window and round tower, directly above the leak.
But…I saw nothing amiss.
I have owned the house since 2014, so why now a leak in this area? Standing atop the ladder, nothing was obvious.
In short, only one word will describe my feelings about this: FUCK!
So, the plan became, after repairing the built-in gutter issue on the north side, I would then relocate the scaffolding atop the west porch roof so I could figure out the cause of the leak and repair it.
In short, an anticipated fuck-load of work.
In the meantime, several buckets were placed in the attic to catch the water.
Today, arriving at the house in my car, I noticed something…odd. As I drove closer to the house, the oddity vanished from sight. So, I turned around, then drove back towards the house.
And…drum roll-please…there was, indeed, some kind of oddity way high on the roof above the west dormer. My heart raced. Could this be the cause of the problem???????? And, what was I even looking at?
After, yet again, setting up the tall ladder on the west porch roof, I climbed up and…fuck!…was able to confirm the issue. To the left is the round tower cornice; to the right is the west dormer roof. Then, WAY up to the top, right, is…a partially missing cementitious shingle. See? This is not at all where I expected to find the problem.
In a perilous and terrifying journey, I managed to have a close encounter with the partially missing 1920s cementitious shingle. Under, are 1894 wood shingles! And…there was zero doubt: the broken-off 1920s shingle was the cause of the sudden water leak.
The missing piece of 1920s shingle was found…praise the Lord…in the valley (see first image). After inserting metal flashing under the damaged shingle, I then ‘glued’ down the broken-off piece with caulk. VICTORY! Even if the caulk later fails, the metal flashing will properly direct water.
This is not a permanent fix. But, it will last many years, buying me time.
And, what I thought was a LOT of work, proved an easy fix, albeit in a perilous and terrifying kinda way as my 64-year-old self, with a blood clot in my left leg, scrambled across a roof.
Readers though will note, and not for the first time, that Ross is crazy.
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So satisfying. Like putting the last piece in a jigsaw puzzle.
Ross, in your case crazy works. It sounds like the leak was “upstream”.
So has this been broken and leaking since 2014 or earlier? Fuck is right.
Now, will there be a grant to fix the roof in 2022 or 2023?
Morning, mlaiuppa!
As I mentioned, the leak began a few months ago.
I know a slate roofer who always kept a supply of asbestos-cement shingles for such repairs. You should conduct a search for them or companies that supply salvaged slates. They may have some for such repairs. If that hits a seeming dead end, put the word out to roofers far and wide that you need some if they ever remove such a roof. When your roof is at the end of its life, you should consider slate shingles as replacements. They are very beautiful, they will last several lifetimes, they are a green, non-toxic mineral, and when at the end of their life they don’t have to go to a landfill. The slates on my roof are about 120 yrs. old, still beautiful, and very hard. They are from Peach Bottom, Pa. Just a plug for an exceptional, traditional roofing material.
Michael, I have a stash of the cement shingles in the basement.
However, one can’t just remove a single tile and replace it. They are all linked together with clips. To replace the damaged tile I would have to remove all the tiles above it.
Hence, the repair.
Yikes! I am sure that detail was mentioned in ‘The Slate Roof Bible'(Jenkins). I don’t want to jinx you, but you know you bought time and the repair is probably more temporary than you’d like it to be.
I just remembered one detail that was mentioned in repairing asbestos-cement shingle roofs. OK- when replacing a slate shingle one method of repair is to pound a slate hook- it has a curled end that holds the shingle in place, and the adjacent slates hold it in place also. When replacing your asbestos-cement shingles, one would use two slate hooks. one for each side. I would assume you would use a slate ripper to remove the broken shingle. I know that if you ever need sound advice, you can call Joseph Jenkins at his office. You would find his number on the ‘Slate Roof Central’ website. I called him, a long time ago, and he was very gracious and patient.
Well, well, well… your 64 year-old eyes are still sharp, Ross! Bravo! So glad that the leak source is found!
How soon does Cody arrive?? Glad it’s fixed, but fuck Ross!
I will be joining the show later this fall, but –
Cody knows how to:
Work on pretty old lights (at pro level)
Cody does not know how to:
Patch and repair leaks on big scary roofs.
Yikes and Yeah! I hate getting up on my fairly steep roof, (needs to happen at least 2x a year to check gutters, skylights and trim back trees), can’t imagine being on top of the Cross house roof. YEAH, that you found the leak and have a temporary patch on there. Roofing is so expensive 😫
Maybe crazy but also lucky and smart! And brave! my hero 🙂
Speaking as someone with vertigo, I am in awe of your ability to hail your 64 year old butt up there at all, let alone repair anything. My porch roof is my limit; even then (and most of it is flat, LOL) I am dizzy and nervous. If I had to roof houses for a living, we would have starved long ago. Glad you found the leak; we had an elusive one years ago that apparently was traveling about 15′ before it manifested itself.
Mike, being on the roof TERRIFIES me. Justin, by contrast, clambers across the roof like a monkey. Just watching him freaks me out!