Water Testing

Not many roofing contractors understand what a water test is, much less how to perform it correctly. Without giving away all our procedural secrets let us at least explain the general outline:

A water test involves 2 people. One which sprays or applies water on the outside (roof, drain or vertical sidewall surface) and one who watches the interior for leaks. We offer the customer the option to be (or provide) the interior person in order to minimize the cost for the test process- which is done on a time and material basis. The water test must be done systematically so that the building area being tested does not give off misleading indicators. Once a leak is found it is retested and back checked again (through activating it) to be sure of the exact point of entry.

This sounds easy, but it’s actually very complicated. Gravity/roof pitch, wind, roof composition and roof decking/substrate all go into influencing how water moves between the exterior roof ‘point of entry’ and the interior living space where you see it. We’ve seen the two entry points as far as 30+ feet apart form each other! In this particular case (see image) the leak was showing up on a 2nd floor wall inside of a 4 floor mansion! Given how far the water was ‘traveling’, no wonder no one before us could find the leak.

Finally when considering ‘water testing’ you must keep in mind that a 3/4 inch garden hose is limited in water volume and simply can’t simulate an all out drenching rainstorm. In some cases, when leaks only activate in hard rains, it becomes necessary to visit those properties during drenching rainstorms. If necessary we will get into attic, loft or ceiling areas in order to see exactly where the interior point of entry is. From there we can begin with an advantage in finding the exterior point of entry, no matter how far away it is.

The lesson in all this is simple: “identification is 90% of the battle”. Once you know who the ‘enemy’ (leak) is, repairing it is actually the easy part.

Water testing is a very important tool in understanding your roof’s weaknesses, and through that, in prolonging it’s life. Contact us to find out more. Especially if you have a leak that “no one can find”. We’d love to end your despair.

Cooper Roofing Corporation - 610.275.7663 (ROOF)