Dancing Waters in the Laundry Room

So I went into the laundry room to check on the washer (another story yet to come), and I saw this...

I saw the new waterstains on the painted panelling under the cabinet. I think, "uh oh". When I opened the cabinet there was the glint of reflected light off something in the back. I moved a few things out of the way and was greeted by this sight.

Yellow arrows show where the water was coming in, and flowing down the seam between 2 drywall patches. (There had been a window in the wall here, pre-addition, and it was sloppily filled in. The whole house is built like this! :o) The red arrows are the water stains I noticed. What you can't see is the row of drips falling from the lower edge of the cabinet, off to the left, all the way to the corner of the room.

I knew that I would have to go up on the roof, in the daytime to look at things, but there was a possibility that there was a leaking water pipe up there. Yes, in the no-attic/dead space between old and new construction there are hot and cold water supply pipes, run up the wall, and through the attic in the addition, and down to the new bathroom. Very confusing.

So, I did tear out some of the wet drywall, and looked in with a flashlight. I could just see a steady stream of drips coming off a roofing nail. Definately a roof problem.

Several days later, after removing leaves from that area of the roof (a friend's suggestion), I got up there and did my best. It's very tidy looking, if I say so myself.

The product I used was recommended by the salesman at my neighborhood True Value. He swears that the roofing guys come in and buy this stuff nearly every day, and they can't keep it in stock. I am a fool. I believe every word he says.

I bought caulk-sized tubes of "Leak Stopper Rubberized Roof Patch" by Gardner. "Enhanced with Penetrex (TM)". This sounds too good to be true. Perhaps the product even applies itself?? Could it be more miraculous?

So, the area of the valley where shingles meet shingles looked fine. Tight seam, no lifted shingles, except at the bottom. The seam where shingle meets roll roofing product is caulked, and the caulk is visibly cracked and lifted away from the surface. This has GOT to be the problem.

I applied the Leak Stopper to the caulk line, having cleaned out debris first, then working it in well. The seam near the roof edge was trickier, but I did the best I could. (The photo is from before the repair - Leak Stopper is blackish colored.)

Did I mention that being on this single-story nearly flat roof was terrifying? When we were kids, us younguns would regularly climb up here, courtesy of the big oil tank and an overhanging dogwood tree (both gone). It was FINE then, and it definately NOT fine now. I just tried not to look around too much, and tried not to stand up too much. Happily, no one could see me crawling and butt scooting over the roof surface.

The Results - Well, tonight it has rained steadliy, moderately. I just went out for a look and Leak Stopper didn't. It is a lot better, but there is still water coming in. This means another nerve wracking trip to the roof on another day. Next time, I am flingin' this stuff everywhere - neatness no longer matters.

To be continued. Hopefully soon.