We just moved into a new house a few months ago. I went out to the garage tonight and saw this horrible sight:


(Water leaking through the ceiling and all over the floor)

Now I'm actually concerned that the entire lower section of the ceiling is filled with water (judging by how much "fatter" it is than the other sections):



Anyway, I got a ladder and went to look at the roof. It's a metal roof and it seems fine. Granted it is night and I'm no expert. But the gutters were REALLY REALLY dirty. And on top of that, they are really skinny. My fingers barely fit. I don't know if you can tell from these pics but they are really small. Why would they have made them like that? The grime is from me trying to clean them:


My questions are:
Could this be caused by the gutter somehow? And is there a good way to clean those without using water being that they are so skinny? I'm worried about using water because if that IS where it's coming from I don't want to make it worse!

Finally, what should I do about the inside? Does anyone know someone in BCS that would be good for this job?

I use a powerful leaf blower to clean my rain gutters.

The opening to the top of the gutters is not that big of a concern. It looks plenty big to take the water. A smaller opening discourages larger things getting trapped. That being said, it will make it harder to clean out.

The size of the gutter is key.

The water appears to be getting trapped in the vinyl backed insulation under your roof. If it builds up too much, eventually it wil tear and you will have a mess. It could be coming from the gutter or running down from anywhere higher on your roof. You need to verify.

https://www.mbsmetals.com/tips-techniques/pbr-details/cross-section-of-eave-hang-on-gutter/

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We just moved into a new house a few months ago. I went out to the garage tonight and saw this horrible sight:

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If it is a new house, contact the builder to come fix the issue!

Gary79Ag said:

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Quote:

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We just moved into a new house a few months ago. I went out to the garage tonight and saw this horrible sight:

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If it is a new house, contact the builder to come fix the issue!

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I'm sure he meant "new to him"

The pics are not of new construction.

Metal roofing is difficult to diagnose. Especially from pictures. Yes, it could be a back up from the gutters. Yes, it could be a leak up the roof line. You need to pull back the vinyl and trace the origin from the inside if you can. that will atleast give you an idea of if it is gutter back up or roof. It could easily be a worn our exposed fastener. Or lack of butyl tape to seal the seams. Or..... Or.... Or...

TexAg1987 said:

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Gary79Ag said:

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Quote:

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We just moved into a new house a few months ago. I went out to the garage tonight and saw this horrible sight:

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If it is a new house, contact the builder to come fix the issue!

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I'm sure he meant "new to him"

The pics are not of new construction.

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Correct. Sorry, new to me! Thanks for all the replies. What's the best way to get rid of all the potential water before I peel it back, pop holes in it?

Counterpoint said:

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TexAg1987 said:

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Gary79Ag said:

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Quote:

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We just moved into a new house a few months ago. I went out to the garage tonight and saw this horrible sight:

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If it is a new house, contact the builder to come fix the issue!

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I'm sure he meant "new to him"

The pics are not of new construction.

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Correct. Sorry, new to me! Thanks for all the replies. What's the best way to get rid of all the potential water before I peel it back, pop holes in it?

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Poke holes and let it drain into a bucket. The insulation is ruined anyway.

Unfortunately, it is installed on top of the structure and below the roof panels.

You would need to retrofit insulation to replace it.

TexAg1987 said:

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Counterpoint said:

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TexAg1987 said:

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Gary79Ag said:

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Quote:

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We just moved into a new house a few months ago. I went out to the garage tonight and saw this horrible sight:

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If it is a new house, contact the builder to come fix the issue!

---

I'm sure he meant "new to him"

The pics are not of new construction.

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Correct. Sorry, new to me! Thanks for all the replies. What's the best way to get rid of all the potential water before I peel it back, pop holes in it?

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Poke holes and let it drain into a bucket. The insulation is ruined anyway.

Unfortunately, it is installed on top of the structure and below the roof panels.

You would need to retrofit insulation to replace it.

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Know anyone in College Station who would be up for this job? (After I drain it)

JM Buildings, perhaps.

I have never had to have anyone repair one.

Can you tell who built yours?

TexAg1987 said:

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JM Buildings, perhaps.

I have never had to have anyone repair one.

Can you tell who built yours?

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I have no idea, unfortunately.

That insulation has to come out one way or another. I'd be hard pressed not to clear out the area under it and attempt to drain that thing where I could removed a section at a time in a controlled fashion. I'd remove it until I could find the leak.

Hard to tell from the pics but it looks like a steep pitch. If I'm wrong, and you can walk on it without falling through, I'd start looking for failed or missing fasteners.

How did a building inspection not find this? Did the previous owner disclose?

BrazosDog02 said:

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That insulation has to come out one way or another. I'd be hard pressed not to clear out the area under it and attempt to drain that thing where I could removed a section at a time in a controlled fashion. I'd remove it until I could find the leak.

Hard to tell from the pics but it looks like a steep pitch. If I'm wrong, and you can walk on it without falling through, I'd start looking for failed or missing fasteners.

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It's pretty steep. I'm gonna start draining tomorrow. Not looking forward to this!

ABATTBQ11 said:

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How did a building inspection not find this? Did the previous owner disclose?

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Excellent question, and no. Although If it's the gutter, I could see it being my fault. But if not...

It is because a lot of inspectors have no clue what they are doing. They pass a test for a license but have no real practical experience in different construction. We get calls all the time, as in every week, from people upset because they bought a house with a bad roof even thought the inspector said everything was good. We get up there and it is trashed. A lot of inspectors won't even get up there. It is a very weak field.

If you are buying a home, you should have a home inspection. And then have experts in certain fields inspect areas as well if you are concerned.

I'm betting from the little bit i can see that the leaves and debris filling up the gutter and clogging the downspout and causing the gutter to back up and overfill causing your problem. I see this regularly with these types of gutters. The problem is that there isn't a leafguard commercially available that I'm aware of for this gutter.