Hi, this is Steve from Roofer 911.
I thought I'd make this video so this way I can explain to you the importance of having an infrared scan done by our company. Not only can we trace the source of most leaks, but also we will see hidden leaks that are not visible to the eye.
When I met with this homeowner, and she lives in Leesburg, Virginia by the way. She's looking for an estimate for roof repair. She showed me an area on her ceiling where there was a water stain, and it was very small. It was only about the size of a golf ball.
I told her, I said, "I'm just so glad I'm here to do the scan for you because otherwise your insurance company would have turned down the claim immediately." She asked me "Why?", and I said "Because the cost of the repairs would be much lower than your deductible."
When I turned on my infrared camera I noticed right away she had much more damage than previously thought. Now where you see all this dark blue and purple, this is all saturated insulation and it's about 90% moisture. Also we have the same thing here, but the moisture goes to this area as well. There's also a little trace of moisture here.
If the insurance company, if the adjuster was here before me, like I said, he would have turned down the claim and she has all this moisture trapped inside the wall and inside the attic. There's a very good chance she would develop mold.
By the homeowner submitting my pictures, and also my infrared video to her insurance company they have no choice but to approve the claim. What'll need to be done is, all the drywall here and over here and the insulation above has to be removed and replaced with new.
I'll explain to you exactly what's causing this water damage. On the side where the roof meets the wall, there's aluminum step flashing and it goes behind the wall and it goes underneath the roof. If the contractor nails these shingles too close to the wall, you're nailing into the protective step flashing and you will have a leak.
They did exactly the same here. The step flashing is aluminum pieces of metal and part of it goes underneath the siding about 2 inches, and the other half goes underneath the roof. The step flashing covers that open breathing space so that wood underneath can expand and contract.
There's about a half an inch space here. If they're nailing the shingles too close to the wall, you're practically nailing right into that open space and you're going to develop a leak.
What we need to do on both sides is remove all the roofing material where the roof and the wall meet. Any flashing that's damaged is going to be replaced with new and then we're going to re-shingle both areas.
Another thing, I also inspected the valley at the top. Everything was fine there, it was done perfectly, but another thing that's contributing to the leak is the apron flashing here. Apron flashing again, it's one piece of metal and about 2 inches goes behind the siding and then about 3 inches overlaps the roof.
They never sealed underneath the apron flashing and it's also lifting up about half an inch. If there's a driving rain, the water will very easily get underneath that step flashing, travel down the roof, in between the shingles and the felt and the water will just settle in the wall in between the bricks and the drywall. This is the area here where you see from the apron flashing. Also this section here, this is all from the apron flashing as well.
This area here which you cannot see on the infrared photo, it was all wet here, and that's from the side. The step flashing. This damage here is from over here.
Another thing I need to mention is the gutter here took an ever so slight dip. There's a downspout here and there's a downspout here. When it rains really heavy, all that water cannot go uphill quick enough to where the downspout is, so some of the water is overflowing over the back and dropping down inside the wall cavity.
Also, when the water ponds in this area, and the water reaches the level of the screws that's holding the gutter into place, the water seeps right through the sides of the screws, through the facial board, and down inside the wall. It will leak right next to the window.
My name is Steve, from Roofer 911. If you have any questions whatsoever I can be reached at (703)475-2446 and we specialize in roof repair in Leesburg Virginia and all areas of Northern Virginia. Thank you and have a great day.
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