Had a 30'x30' all metal garage built less than a year ago, and now the
roof leaks. Leaks in at least 8 areas. Buildings less than a year
old. Called the contractor, but his subcontractor forman and crew
have now disappeared. During previous heavy rains last summer, the
roof didn't leak anywhere. Now when it's cold and windy, it's leaking
very badly.
While deciding on legal action to be taken against contractor, I'm
once again doing research on metal building roof construction methods.
Can anyone tell me common causes as to why this new roof would leak
all of a sudden? No one's walked on it. It has three or four panel
skylights. Insulation roof material lying underneath metal,
prohibits visual inspection of inside roof panel seams. Any
suggestions for methods used to correct new metal roof leaks? Any
assistance will help me towards a positive solution to problem.
Thanks in advance..
why would new metal panel roof leak?
what can be done to stop leak problem?
Gary in Texas
You mention "seams". This reminds me of the mobile home roofs of
years ago made of aluminum with "seams" caulked and fastened together.
This is virtually impossible to accomplish. Coefficient of expansion
of aluminum is high and the forces are too great for such "seams" to
work.
I have a steel metal roof. The way it works should be familiar to
most people. It has ridges and long screws are used on the ridges.
Thermal movements can be accommodated by this design, the screws
tilting to the movement.
The fact that there is a time element involved convinces me that this
is your problem - it takes some time for the small movements to create
a cumulative result - a loose seam.
***
On 4 Feb 2007 22:44:09 -0800, [email protected] wrote:
>Had a 30'x30' all metal garage built less than a year ago, and now the
>roof leaks. Leaks in at least 8 areas. Buildings less than a year
>old. Called the contractor, but his subcontractor forman and crew
>have now disappeared. During previous heavy rains last summer, the
>roof didn't leak anywhere. Now when it's cold and windy, it's leaking
>very badly.
>
>While deciding on legal action to be taken against contractor, I'm
>once again doing research on metal building roof construction methods.
>
>Can anyone tell me common causes as to why this new roof would leak
>all of a sudden? No one's walked on it. It has three or four panel
>skylights. Insulation roof material lying underneath metal,
>prohibits visual inspection of inside roof panel seams. Any
>suggestions for methods used to correct new metal roof leaks? Any
>assistance will help me towards a positive solution to problem.
>
>Thanks in advance..
>
>why would new metal panel roof leak?
>what can be done to stop leak problem?
>
>Gary in Texas
[email protected] wrote:
> Had a 30'x30' all metal garage built less than a year ago, and now the
> roof leaks. Leaks in at least 8 areas. Buildings less than a year
Find out the manufacture of the metal building and contact them
directly. Many times the manufacture will warranty the metal building
against leaks/rusting for 10 years or more.
Mort
[email protected] wrote:
> why would new metal panel roof leak?
> what can be done to stop leak problem?
>
> Gary in Texas
Might contact commercial roofers in re a sprayed on roof.
Bill
--
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one
rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
http://nmwoodworks.com
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On 4 Feb 2007 22:44:09 -0800, [email protected] wrote:
>why would new metal panel roof leak?
>what can be done to stop leak problem?
There are a few reasons I know of, and it could be that none of them
are the case-
The first, and probably most likely, is that if the roof was screwed
down, some of the screws were either driven in at an angle, or screwed
down too tight. They have washers on them that can be split if
overtightened, or simply not seal correctly if they are a little
cockeyed. It may not have been enough to leak when the weather was
warmer, but I'd imagine the washers contract at least a little when
things get cold- making the problem worse. The fix is to find and
replace those screws (or nails, depending on who built the thing)
Second most likely cause is that some yahoo put the seams together
wrong. If you look at it, and there is a flat bit next to hump on the
seams, they've been overlapped incorrectly. I don't know exactly why,
but this can allow water to wick under the panel seams and leak into
the building. You can pull the screws on the seam, as well as the
rows on either side, and pry up the roofing to reset them correctly.
The last, and probably the worst, is that the entire building may have
warped or twisted. That'd have to be a lot of movement, but it's
possible that if that happened, it could have pulled the metal against
the screws and enlarged the holes. Short of entirely re-roofing the
thing, I'm not sure how you'd fix that- but larger rubber washers
might be a good place to start.
Hard to find those leaks- good luck! And be careful if you get up on
that roof yourself, they're slippery SOBs.
>Gary in Texas