Wot Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

We Have A Leak in the Roof

Personally, I think we've had a leak on one part of the flat roof from day 1 when the house was built only 3 years ago. It's just that the water has only been sufficiently deep twice in that time to cause a leak to flow.

Flat roofs are drained by scuppers.  Under most (shallow) circumstances the water on our roof flows away very quickly.  

However, during the December 2012 Toronto Ice Storm we accumulated about 4 inches of ice and several inches of water, when it all started to melt in mid-January.  The scuppers are only 3" high so they were all frozen solidly until the melt started.  

Water depth - well on the high side of 4 inches. And we had a leak from the roof of the walk-out.

Several kettles of boiling water and half a bag of rock salt saved that day.  (Easy when you have a water softener in the basement.)  The roofing contractor (who did the original installation) had a quick look a few weeks later under dry conditions and said there was not a problem, He suggested I caulk a couple of places. Said he did not like scuppers as they usually cause problems.

Roll forward two years to "last week (April 2015)" when the roofing contractor was here to deliver some roof protection material (WalkTRAK III).  I asked him to look at it again.  After some mechanical probing, he pronounced it healthy.  I then caulked a couple of places as per his suggestion and a couple of other places I thought were suspect.

Now the big underlying issue (to me) is that the City requires a document pronouncing the roof to be not leaking, or that it is monitored (in real time) for leaks.  The easiest and cheapest way is a (48 hour) Flood Test, to a sustained depth of 4".  Real time monitoring  and other acceptable testing techniques take time, money and electrical machinery that I have neither the time, nor wallet nor inclination to acquire and install. Too much ongoing management.

Most of our roofs (we have four separate segments) were flooded for many days in January 2013, much deeper than 4", so I consider them "passed".  But the roof of the walk-out needed (re)testing properly, having failed drippingly in January 2013.

So yesterday morning I blocked the outlet of the particular scupper and started adding water via the roof top hose.  It was good at "just covered" and at 1 inch water depth.  At 2 inches water started to flow quite obviously down the interior wall.  O me miserum.

Quickly pulled the plug and turned up the heat. Called the contractor.

Its not quite that bad, but ... it leaks!

The roofing contractors fixit guy is coming over on Wednesday and we will fix this matter once and for all !

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For the record ....  and I quote in part ...

TORONTO MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 492, GREEN ROOFS, 

ARTICLE IV Toronto Green Roof Construction Standard

§ 492-9. Toronto Green Roof Construction Standard: mandatory provisions.

H. Waterproofing. 

(2) Immediately prior to installation of the green roof, the applicant shall cause to be conducted one of the following leakage testing protocols: 

      (a) Flood test; 

      (b) Electric field vector mapping; 

      (c) Impedance test; 

      (d) Infrared (IR) thermal imaging; 

      (e) Low voltage testing; 

      (f) High voltage testing; 

      (g) Moisture sensors; 

and a report documenting a successful test, signed by an architect or engineer, shall be provided to the Chief Building Official