I first spotted a faint stain on the ceiling after a light shower and didn’t think much of it. But after a recent storm here, the stain darkened and spread, and I noticed a slow drip in the kitchen. I placed a bucket under it, but now I’m worried. Our tiled roof is over a decade old. I’ve heard small leaks can lead to serious damage if left alone. It doesn’t seem major yet, but it’s clearly getting worse. Am I overthinking it or is it time to call in a professional?
I had a very similar situation with my roof last year, and I’m glad I didn’t wait too long. When I first noticed a small stain, I wasn’t too concerned, but once it started spreading after heavy rain, I knew I had to act quickly. Using a roof leak checklist really helped me identify early warning signs, like water stains and drips, which can signal bigger issues down the track. Even though the leak seemed minor, getting a professional in made all the difference. They found cracked tiles I would have missed and fixed everything before it caused serious damage. In my experience, if the stain is growing and you’re seeing drips, it’s definitely time to call a roofer. Acting sooner rather than later saved me money and hassle, so I’d recommend getting it checked out.
If it stays wet it’s possible the structural wood can get moldy and rot especially if it’s warm. Patching the roof would be much cheaper than fixing anything structural. If the roof still looks like it’s in decent shape id just patch the leak, they usually can go 20+ years between replacement. But it might be a good idea to get a look in the attic to see if it has been leaking longer than you’ve thought.
If it’s leaking through, to a point where you need a bucket, yeah, time for a pro.
The hole in your roof is leaking on to the surface above the ceiling, which is saturated and now leaking through the ceiling.
Rot and mold are going to follow. You need to fix the roof AND everything hit by the water.
Tiled roofs can be easy to fix especially if you have spare tiles, but you can also do repairs with silicone and/or flashtac. You’ll find that the two main difficulties are accessing the roof and finding the source of the leak. If you’re handy and willing to take on the (not insignificant) risk of getting on your roof you could consider doing it yourself, but otherwise you should get a professional to have a look at it.
Finding the leak can be really hard. Water can travel quite a ways from its initial ingress point.
Never had a tiled roof, but I had an old house with a box gutter and it took replacing the entire roof and lining the gutter with rubber to stop the leak.
^ This! Worked at a place that had a roof leak, there was a pipe in the false ceiling and the water leaked onto the pipe, then ran the length of the pipe dropping off at random points.
So we had this line of brown spots on the ceiling tiles, it looked like the whole roof was leaking, but it was just one leak following the pipe.
The craziest thing is when a wire loom in a car gets wet. Capillary action can make the water travel up from where it’s getting in
Tell me about it. I’ve fixed my fair share of leaky roofs and sometimes you just make an educated guess and hope. I hate getting up into the ceiling but sometimes it’s the only way to trace the water from the end point to the source. With tiled roofs however, it can be nice and obvious with something like a cracked tile or a tile that’s shifted out of place.
You don’t want to fuck around with roof leaks get that shit fixed asap
its past time to call a professional! any leak can cause issuea. Water damaged buildings can cause health issues too.
