Signs Your Roof May Be Leaking

Water travels. It runs along rafters and sheathing before it drops, so the stain on your ceiling is often several feet from where the water actually got in. That is why leaks are worth having someone trace properly.

Inside the house

• Brown or yellow rings on ceilings or upper walls.
• Bubbling or peeling paint near the ceiling line.
• A musty smell in an upstairs room or closet.
• Drips during heavy rain or during snowmelt.
• Damp or discolored insulation in the attic.
• Dark staining or dark streaks on the underside of the roof sheathing.

Outside the house

• Missing, lifted or creased shingles.
• Cracked or dried-out rubber pipe boots around plumbing vents.
• Rusted, loose or missing flashing at chimneys, walls and valleys.
• Sagging areas in the roof plane.
• Granules piling up at downspout outlets.
• Damaged or separated gutters and rotted fascia.

What to do right now

• Put a container under an active drip and move what you can out of the way.
• If a ceiling is bulging with trapped water, that water is heavy. Keep people out from under it.
• Photograph the damage inside and out for your records.
• Note when it leaks: only in heavy rain, only in wind-driven rain, or during snowmelt. That detail helps diagnosis.
• Stay off the roof, especially when it is wet.

Winter leaks are often ice dams

If leaking starts during a thaw after snow, the roof may be fine and the real issue may be ice damming caused by attic heat loss and ventilation. The fix is different, so mention the timing when you describe the problem.