Lee’s Summit Roofing Contractor: Roof Leaks and Ceiling Stains

Have you noticed any evidence of roof leaks in your house?  These are usually telltale signs of ceiling stains on your sheetrock.  Here in Lees Summit, our typical heaviest rain season would be April through September, with each month exceeding four inches of rain.  Within this, June is our heaviest rain month with typical rainfall exceeding six inches.  

The problem with roof leaks is diagnosing the source of the leak.  To do this, you would normally look immediately above the stain that provided the evidence of the roof leak.  But the roof leak could be a good distance from the stain as water has surface tension that can be stronger than gravity.  Have you ever noticed beads of water on a leaf after a rainstorm?  What prevents gravity from pulling that water down to the ground?  You are observing the effects of surface tension.  

What this means in a small roof leak (all leaks start small) is that the small amounts of water are leaking through the roof and adhering to structural members such as roof joists, roof sheathing material, or plumbing or HVAC vents.  Those water droplets will adhere to these materials the same way water droplets adhere to leaves.  As these members slope downward, gravity acting on the water droplets coupled with surface tension will cause the water droplets to follow this material as it flows downward.  It is only when these droplets get sufficiently large or a dissimilar material “breaks” the surface tension that the force of gravity exceeds the surface tension forces, and this is where your ceiling gets stained.  

If you notice a small stain on your ceiling, this may be evidence of a roof leak.  It’s always wise to have any ceiling stains or leaks diagnosed early as it is usually much less expensive to fix a small leak.  If you can’t find the source of the roof leak, call an experienced local roofing contractor based in Lee’s Summit to find and diagnose the leak for you. 

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