Check for Roof Leaks Before Purchasing a Home

FAIRFAX, Va. - June 14, 2013 - PRLog -- Purchasing a home can be an overwhelming prospect, whether it’s your first or an upgrade from your current home. There are multiple factors to consider at the same time – the price, the neighborhood, the layout and the integrity of the structure, to name a few. A local homeowner found out the hard way that it can be costly when you don’t have a professional do a thorough inspection.

Robert Boyd purchased a home early in the spring on Preservation Drive. He hired a home inspector to check the house for issues and got a “thumbs up”. When the heavy Virginia rains started up, Boyd discovered a roof leak the inspector had obviously missed. The new home owner was disappointed. He was also confused because the seller had produced documents showing he had hired a roofing contractor before the sale to repair a vent pipe leak.

Boyd called Ken Briesemeister, owner of Improve Today, Inc. which specializes in difficult roof repairs to inspect his roof. The roof repair contractor found evidence of water leaking around the vent pipe in the attic. It was also clear that there had been recent repairs to the shingles and flashing around the pipe on the roof top.

“This situation is typical of many homes,” explained Briesemeister. “Often when it appears the source of the leak is from a point where a pipe or other object penetrates the roof, but it is actually coming from higher up. In the case of Mr. Boyd’s home, the problem was with a faulty skylight situated above the pipe. The water has been running down the slope of the roof between the felt layer and the plywood. It escaped into the attic at the first available access point – the vent pipe.”

According to Briesemeister, home inspectors are not always experts with roof issues and not all roofing contractors have the experience to find the actual source of the leak.

“The previous owner probably insisted he knew where the leak was coming from,” he commented, “asked the repair crew to fix it. Apparently the crew did not do a thorough inspection and missed the real cause of the problem. Unfortunately, the new home owner has to pay for the damage to the roof and the rest of the house.”

For anyone in the market to purchase a new home, it makes sense to call a roof inspector in addition to a home inspector to look for problems that could be costly down the road. Robert Boyd certainly wishes he had known then what he knows now about roof leaks.

Ken Briesemeister is the owner of Improve Today Inc, a Fairfax roof repair company. You can learn more about roofs leaks on his website at http://roof.net/repair-va/fairfax/ or read his roof maintenance tips for homeowners on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/roofrepairva.