My condo had a new roof put on at the end of Sept. I found an active leak
around Oct. 8 They did a repair around Oct 18th (just over 6 weeks ago)
to the flashing of the powered roof vent. Problem is that some spots of the
sheathing that were wet when it originally leaked have, at times, still been
giving me excessive readings (as high as greater than 20% moisture content,
highest reading) when I gently yet firmly touch the SURFACE of the wood with
the prongs of the Moisture Detector.

I was suspecting it still has a slow leak, because moisture levels seemed to
go up when it rained, but wanted to be 100% sure before I had the roofer rip
up the roof to do another repair. I have been taking moisture readings, and
wavering between thinking it's a leak versus just residual moisture being
affected by changes in temperature and humidity. The wood was taking very
long to dry out on it's own (sheathing faces the north) and I found that
temperature did cause fluctuations (the meter gave higher readings when
temperature got lower). I helped it dry with a hair dryer. I had gotten it
to dry out to the point where I was consistently getting "dry" readings
(under 14% at surface) when the outdoor temperature was 50 ish with humidity
in the 40s.

It rained yesterday, and the moisture readings at the problem area went back
to being as high as greater than 20%. Today (sunny and low 60s) the
moisture detector is still (as of 12pm) giving readings in the 15 to 20% (or
higher) range. I am sure that this would not be the case today if we did
not get wet weather yesterday. As much as I'd like to give the roofer the
benefit of the doubt, I am suspecting a slow leak.

QUESTION: Do I *definitely* still have a slow leak happening here? (or is
possible that the reason for the higher readings is that residual moisture
was still present and the wood only picked up extra moisture yesterday
strictly due to relative humidity levels being higher). In other words,
should I call the management company and insist I have a slow leak and have
the roofer come and rip up the roof and do another repair?

Thanks,

J.

"jaynews" wrote in message
news:Cjmjf.285$Ia2.283@trndny05...
My condo had a new roof put on at the end of Sept. I found an active
leak around Oct. 8 They did a repair around Oct 18th (just over 6 weeks
ago) to the flashing of the powered roof vent. Problem is that some spots
of the sheathing that were wet when it originally leaked have, at times,
still been giving me excessive readings (as high as greater than 20%
moisture content, highest reading) when I gently yet firmly touch the
SURFACE of the wood with the prongs of the Moisture Detector.

I was suspecting it still has a slow leak, because moisture levels seemed
to go up when it rained, but wanted to be 100% sure before I had the
roofer rip up the roof to do another repair. I have been taking moisture
readings, and wavering between thinking it's a leak versus just residual
moisture being affected by changes in temperature and humidity. The wood
was taking very long to dry out on it's own (sheathing faces the north)
and I found that temperature did cause fluctuations (the meter gave higher
readings when temperature got lower). I helped it dry with a hair dryer.
I had gotten it to dry out to the point where I was consistently getting
"dry" readings (under 14% at surface) when the outdoor temperature was 50
ish with humidity in the 40s.

It rained yesterday, and the moisture readings at the problem area went
back to being as high as greater than 20%. Today (sunny and low 60s) the
moisture detector is still (as of 12pm) giving readings in the 15 to 20%
(or higher) range. I am sure that this would not be the case today if we
did not get wet weather yesterday. As much as I'd like to give the roofer
the benefit of the doubt, I am suspecting a slow leak.

QUESTION: Do I *definitely* still have a slow leak happening here? (or
is possible that the reason for the higher readings is that residual
moisture was still present and the wood only picked up extra moisture
yesterday strictly due to relative humidity levels being higher). In
other words, should I call the management company and insist I have a slow
leak and have the roofer come and rip up the roof and do another repair?

Thanks,

J.

imho, i wouldn't expect that the rh would affect the moisture content of
wood that fast, so yes, i'd think you still have a leak.

"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message
...

"jaynews" wrote in message
news:Cjmjf.285$Ia2.283@trndny05...
My condo had a new roof put on at the end of Sept. I found an active
leak around Oct. 8 They did a repair around Oct 18th (just over 6 weeks
ago) to the flashing of the powered roof vent. Problem is that some
spots of the sheathing that were wet when it originally leaked have, at
times, still been giving me excessive readings (as high as greater than
20% moisture content, highest reading) when I gently yet firmly touch the
SURFACE of the wood with the prongs of the Moisture Detector.

I was suspecting it still has a slow leak, because moisture levels seemed
to go up when it rained, but wanted to be 100% sure before I had the
roofer rip up the roof to do another repair. I have been taking moisture
readings, and wavering between thinking it's a leak versus just residual
moisture being affected by changes in temperature and humidity. The wood
was taking very long to dry out on it's own (sheathing faces the north)
and I found that temperature did cause fluctuations (the meter gave
higher readings when temperature got lower). I helped it dry with a hair
dryer. I had gotten it to dry out to the point where I was consistently
getting "dry" readings (under 14% at surface) when the outdoor
temperature was 50 ish with humidity in the 40s.

It rained yesterday, and the moisture readings at the problem area went
back to being as high as greater than 20%. Today (sunny and low 60s) the
moisture detector is still (as of 12pm) giving readings in the 15 to 20%
(or higher) range. I am sure that this would not be the case today if we
did not get wet weather yesterday. As much as I'd like to give the
roofer the benefit of the doubt, I am suspecting a slow leak.

QUESTION: Do I *definitely* still have a slow leak happening here? (or
is possible that the reason for the higher readings is that residual
moisture was still present and the wood only picked up extra moisture
yesterday strictly due to relative humidity levels being higher). In
other words, should I call the management company and insist I have a
slow leak and have the roofer come and rip up the roof and do another
repair?

Thanks,

J.

imho, i wouldn't expect that the rh would affect the moisture content of
wood that fast, so yes, i'd think you still have a leak.

And it's NOT? condensation of warmer air onto the cooler inner surface of
the roof?
Just a vague thought!

And it's NOT? condensation of warmer air onto the cooler inner surface of
the roof?
Just a vague thought!

Ok, but why would the condensation of warmer air cause just the wood in the
problem area (area of the original leak) to jump up. Over time, (with help
of a hair dryer) I had dried all the wood in this area to the point where I
was consistently getting "dry" readings over the past week. Yesterday after
it had rained much of the day, the readings went back up to the excessive
level in just the area that had leaked before.

Given that it's only happening to the area that previously leaked, could it
really be possible it's not an active leak?

J.

"jaynews" wrote in message
news:5Rojf.480$xY2.400@trndny08...
And it's NOT? condensation of warmer air onto the cooler inner surface
of
the roof?
Just a vague thought!

Ok, but why would the condensation of warmer air cause just the wood in
the problem area (area of the original leak) to jump up. Over time, (with
help of a hair dryer) I had dried all the wood in this area to the point
where I was consistently getting "dry" readings over the past week.
Yesterday after it had rained much of the day, the readings went back up
to the excessive level in just the area that had leaked before.

Given that it's only happening to the area that previously leaked, could
it really be possible it's not an active leak?

J.


Given that you cannot see any flowing water and you are monitoring moisture
content of the wood, You may have trouble convincing those responsible to
pay and work to do anything about it. They may however, have plenty of
ready explanations, some of which may be correct.

At only more than 20%, you say that means it is wet but 20% doesn't sound
all that high to me. What do you get when you float a scrap of wood in a
bucket for a day then take it out, towel it off and read it. I just
question your figure of merit for determining the leak (don't go by the
instruction manual). An empirical experiment like that will help bring
perspective to your number.

Condensation in an attic can be concentrated at any point that has more
thermal mass than the average material around it. For example, if the
powered fan has a heavy housing adjascent to the wood you are testing, after
cooling overnight it will warm more slowly than the rest of the roof. While
it is cooler than the surroundings and the humidity rises, condensation will
collect in and on the wood of that area but not other nearby spots. This
action is most prominant in the morning and if the day is warm enough,
evidence is gone before long but if the weather is cool and damp, it may
build up over days to weeks.

Try running the powered fan full time for a few days instead of on a
timer/thermostat it is probably on now. This will prevent any condensation
in the area and help eliminate that as a possibility.

When you get right down to it, you can simply wait for it to dry out then
run a hose on the area for a while and look inside. A little food coloring
may be too subtle to detect but something like that might be useful for
tracking the water intrusion.

Its a tough call from here, let us know what the verdict is.

Its a tough call from here, let us know what the verdict is.

Thanks, they agreed to try spraying a garden hose to try and detect the leak
(with me in the attic).

I want to make sure the person on the roof with the hose does not go
overboard though. When testing for a leak with a garden hose, is it
important to NEVER EVER have the stream of water directed uproof (facing
uphill) or would it still be fair to do this if one is careful to make sure
the angle of the stream is kept to reasonable level (such as no lower than
perpendicular to the line of the slope)? What do you think?

J