New House Roof Leakage

Gugu 8070 · Jun 6, 2016

We bought a new house from Bedrock home 2 1/2 years ago and after our first winter we noticed there was water coming through the ceiling just above the kitchen chandelier which left a brown stain on the ceiling. I called the builder to rectify the issue and they said there was no issue. I have noticed recently that the stain is growing bigger but the one year warranty is more than over. Also our bathroom freezes during the winter time and the shower in the main bathroom has no pressure, so we are forced t used the kids' bathroom.

As we are working on renting out this place I am kind of confused as to what l should do with all these lingering issues. Should l contact the builder or find a contractor to solve these issues?

Kir Luong · Jun 6, 2016

First, Check to see if the new home warranty applies to your situation. If you are in Alberta, for example: http://www.homewarranty.alberta.ca/.
Definitely fix the issues before further damage..it could be the freezing of the bathroom is cause a lack of insulation, which maybe cause icing on the attic (warm moist area from bathroom escaping through attic and freezes), then it when it warms up, it drips onto your ceiling. Or you just have a missing shingles (ex. wind blew it off).

For the water pressure of the shower, take the shower head off and see if you get good pressure. If so, change the head, or soak it in CLR.
Otherwise contact a plumber. If it's really bad plumbing, maybe that should be part of the new Home warranty.

Maybe someone can suggest a specialist that can troubleshoot....I suppose the home -inspection guys can be hired...

Kir.

Matt Crowley · Jun 7, 2016

This is a good issue for Alberta Home Warranty. Get your papers in order in terms of when the initial contact was made. In the meantime, get in a contractor. This sounds like a vapour barrier problem to me but could be more serious. Get a couple quotes.

If you contacted them within the warranty period then you should start legal action. You will need a lawyer but it doesn't have to be stupidly expensive.

This could be a $10,000 fix.

Never rent out a home that has a known problem.

Kir Luong · Jun 8, 2016

Just to share one story. I have this bungalow with water base-board heating and the tenant cooked alot and was into canning, and stuff like that. The house was always humid and at that time, the kitchen exhaust fan was not working. During cool time, the ceiling would drip water in the bathroom and bedrooms. It was hard to troubleshoot this "leakage" issue. The roofing guy said shingles was OK. The Insulation expert said insulation was OK, but they can put some more on anyways. So I thought it was water coming from gutter, possibly..but it was unlikely.
Then I caulk the crap out of the places where water was dripping. Sure enough, during cool times, it still dripped. So after that the light bulb went on and the cause was from poor ventilation, excessive humidity, and condensation (warm moist air condensing on cool surfaces would drop water. The solution was to circulate air with an an HRV system since my heating system was a baseboard, and correct the kitchen fan exhaust. There was no damage to drywall since the didn't penetrate the drywall. But it was really hard to determine the source of the "leak".
In fact, there was no leak issue, just condensation caused by a lack of air circulation and a faulty kitchen exhaust fan.

Gugu 8070 · Jun 8, 2016

Ok. But this has had these issues since we were handed over the keys by the builder. I have tried pursuing them but they are dragging their feet.

Thomas Beyer · Jun 8, 2016

There is s 1,2,5 and 10 year warranty for certain items, as per the link above. This is within the five year envelope timeframe !

Is this in Alberta ?

Send a letter to seller and their insurance company demanding a fix by a certain date. If not acted upon fix it yourself and sue for damages in small claims court, or get a lawyer involved that knows about warranties.

Since it is already leaking set a very short deadline, say one week. It will most likely be covered by home warrant but it may involve legal steps. Be firm. Very firm.

Adria Winburn · Aug 26, 2016

Kir Luong said:
Just to share one story. I have this bungalow with water base-board heating and the tenant cooked alot and was into canning, and stuff like that. The house was always humid and at that time, the kitchen exhaust fan was not working. During cool time, the ceiling would drip water in the bathroom and bedrooms. It was hard to troubleshoot this "leakage" issue. The roofing guy said shingles was OK. The Insulation expert said insulation was OK, but they can put some more on anyways. So I thought it was water coming from gutter, possibly..but it was unlikely.
Then I caulk the crap out of the places where water was dripping. Sure enough, during cool times, it still dripped. So after that the light bulb went on and the cause was from poor ventilation, excessive humidity, and condensation (warm moist air condensing on cool surfaces would drop water. The solution was to circulate air with an an HRV system since my heating system was a baseboard, and correct the kitchen fan exhaust. There was no damage to drywall since the didn't penetrate the drywall. But it was really hard to determine the source of the "leak".
In fact, there was no leak issue, just condensation caused by a lack of air circulation and a faulty kitchen exhaust fan.

nice story..

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