Roof leaks can cause a significant amount of damage to your home if water seeps through the roof, into the attic, or the ceiling below the roof. Leaks around your chimney are very common because the flashing, whose job is to waterproof a chimney, can bend, crack or separate allowing water to seep in.

First, take a look at the ceiling inside your house where the chimney comes into the room. Look for any stains or sagging. Feel the ceiling and check for moisture or crumbling plaster / drywall / ceiling tiles. Signs of moisture are a pretty good sign that you have a leak, but further investigation is needed before you can say that your roof leak is coming from your chimney.

Next, head up and inspect the attic floor where the chimney passes through into your home. Also check the area of the attic ceiling where the chimney enters the attic from the roof. Look for stains, rotten wood, mold or mildew. Feel the areas to see if they are damp. If you find signs of moisture, particularly on the attic ceiling around the chimney, you probably have a chimney roof leak and it’s time to call a roofing professional to come out and see about taking care of the leak before it can cause further damage to your home.

Contact a professional roofing company and they will come out and take a look at your roof for you. They will safely climb onto your roof and inspect the flashing around the chimney and look for worn or missing caulk around the inside of the flashing where it meets the chimney. They will look for cracks and broken or missing pieces. If the flashing is intact but the caulk is worn, they may decide that all that is needed is to simply replace the caulk and that will repair the leak. However, if the flashing is bent, broken, cracked, or missing the flashing will need to be replaced.

While they are up on the roof, they will also be able to determine if there are any additional problems that are causing leaks or will begin causing leaks in your roof in the future. Sometimes all that is needed is one severe storm to take a weak spot on your roof and turn it into a damaged roof that now needs to be replaced.

If you find stained or sagging ceilings and suspect that your chimney has a leak, please give J-Conn Roofing a call at 512-479-0510 or fill out the form to your right and we’ll come out and take a look!