My condo had a new roof put on at the end of Sept. I found an active leak around Oct. 8 They did a repair around Oct 18th (just over 6 weeks ago) to the flashing of the powered roof vent. Problem is that some spots of the sheathing that were wet when it originally leaked have, at times, still been giving me excessive readings (as high as greater than 20% moisture content, highest reading) when I gently yet firmly touch the SURFACE of the wood with the prongs of the Moisture Detector.
I was suspecting it still has a slow leak, because moisture levels seemed to go up when it rained, but wanted to be 100% sure before I had the roofer rip up the roof to do another repair. I have been taking moisture readings, and wavering between thinking it's a leak versus just residual moisture being affected by changes in temperature and humidity. The wood was taking very long to dry out on it's own (sheathing faces the north) and I found that temperature did cause fluctuations (the meter gave higher readings when temperature got lower). I helped it dry with a hair dryer. I had gotten it to dry out to the point where I was consistently getting "dry" readings (under 14% at surface) when the outdoor temperature was 50 ish with humidity in the 40s.
It rained yesterday, and the moisture readings at the problem area went back to being as high as greater than 20%. Today (sunny and low 60s) the moisture detector is still (as of 12pm) giving readings in the 15 to 20% (or higher) range. I am sure that this would not be the case today if we did not get wet weather yesterday. As much as I'd like to give the roofer the benefit of the doubt, I am suspecting a slow leak.
QUESTION: Do I *definitely* still have a slow leak happening here? (or is possible that the reason for the higher readings is that residual moisture was still present and the wood only picked up extra moisture yesterday strictly due to relative humidity levels being higher). In other words, should I call the management company and insist I have a slow leak and have the roofer come and rip up the roof and do another repair?
Thanks,
J.