Roof Leak Repair in Manchester
There is a brown ring on the bedroom ceiling and nothing looks wrong with the roof. That is the normal way round, and it is why people search for a damp patch and no leak in the same sentence. Water rarely comes through directly above where it got in, so the first job on a leak is finding it rather than fixing it. We trace leaks on slate, tile and flat roofs across Manchester and Greater Manchester and put the repair in a free written quote.
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Why the stain is never where the leak is
In Swinton Victorian terrace lofts, water gets past the covering at a cracked tile, a slipped slate, a split valley or a flashing out of its mortar joint. Under that is felt, and water landing on it runs downhill on top rather than through it, until it meets a tear, a nail hole or a lap. On a Prestwich flat roof extension, water pools and tracks through tears instead. The stain inside appears two or three rafter bays from where it started. A stain beside Salford chimney flashings is usually a chimney job, but a stain mid ceiling is not.
What you can check yourself, safely
Go into the loft in daylight with the loft light off and give your eyes a minute. A little daylight at the laps is normal on an old slate roof, but a clear hole of it partway up a slope is a slate gone or a tear in the felt. Then look at the timber rather than the felt. A rafter with a dark tide mark down one edge shows the run the water is taking, and you follow it uphill. Note whether the ceiling wets after every rain or only after rain from one direction, because a westerly finds things ordinary rain will not.
Leak or condensation, and how to tell them apart
This is the most common wasted visit in roofing, so here is the difference. A leak appears after rain and only after rain, it shows at a point, and it dries out between times. Condensation turns up in cold weather whether it has rained or not, it is spread evenly across a whole slope rather than concentrated, and it is worst above a bathroom. If somebody topped up the loft insulation and it started after that, that is the likely cause: insulation pushed into the eaves blocks the airflow that carried the moisture out. If it is condensation, part of the answer is roofing and part is not. Vents at the eaves, tile vents and a ventilated ridge are roof work. A bathroom extractor discharging into the loft is not ours, and neither is the insulation. Dave will tell you which you have got rather than sell you a repair that changes nothing.
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Leaks around solar panels
We do not install solar panels and we do not connect or disconnect anything electrical. What we get called to is water coming in around an array already up there. It is nearly always the anchors screwed through the covering, the flashing kit around the array, or a tile cracked by somebody kneeling on it during the install. All three are roofing faults and all three are fixable. Where panels have to come off, lifting them is the installer's job.
The houses round here, and where they let water in
On the Victorian terraces through Salford, Pendlebury and Eccles the roofs are paired and the valley between them is lead. Old lead splits along the fold where it was laid in too long a length, and the water runs down inside the party wall and shows in the back bedroom, nowhere near the roof. On the concrete tile around Walkden and Whitefield the ridge mortar cracks and water tracks along the battens, dropping mid ceiling rather than at the wall.
Repair or replace, and what affects the price
No call out fee, and every quote is free. Very few leaks mean you need a new roof. A leak is a failed component and the covering is usually fine, so the question is how many there are and whether they are the same age. Tracing is what varies. A slipped tile visible from the pavement is short work; a leak showing only after westerly rain is not. We give you what the tracing found and a free written quote for the repair.
Areas we cover for roof leak repair
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Frequently Asked Questions
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150+ Google reviews. Dave has 25 years on the tools.
Free written quote with no obligation.