new metal panel roof leaks...

[garythomas891]

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

[garythomas891]

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

[Mort Stevens]

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

[Prometheus]

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.

[LQQK]

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.

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[Bill in Detroit]

Might contact commercial roofers in re a sprayed on roof. Bill