- You must find and identify the leak(s) as quickly as possible before the water ends up causing more damage as well as the possibility of infesting your home with mold. Finding the leak is more a process of eliminating possibilities. Your leak will rarely be a gushing fountain that you locate almost immediately.
- You need to find the origin of the leak, the leak itself. You can’t know where the leak really is simply by looking at water stains on your ceilings or by seeing a hard water line on your walls. The best time to really do this is during a rain or snow storm when the leak will proliferate and make itself immediately known.
- Eliminate the possibility of the leak coming from inside your house rather than from your roof. Take measurements from the inside of your home using such markers as interior walls and/or a fireplace. Go up into your attic and locate the leak using your measurements. The leak may have spread and may not be located anywhere near where it is showing up in your home. You may have to expand out as you examine the inside of the roof and plywood.
- Next, get up on the roof itself and adapt your measurements. Check out some of the likely suspects like your flashing, your vents and soffit overhangs as well as around the gutters and chimney. Go over every inch of your roofing materials especially if they are shingles. Be sure to look for damage or curling or anywhere the water may have been able to penetrate and get under the shingles, tar paper and plywood.
