Tile roof leaks. How to fix?

[spiekerjozef]

duct tape

[nervona81732]

Two words, "spray foam " it worked excellent for me and many others. Take notice m if you have a two story , it will retain heat upstairs. just Saying.

[PeterA]

42 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

From my experience, you pitch seem to be good but believe it or not unless you see a crack tile right above the leak many times it comes from the caps on the top from the photo I don't see a cement or sealant these top caps are usually seal on top and the side. Even if they are after time due to the heat the expansion of the metal will cause the caps to move cracking the sealant or cement. Once that happens you get a leak at the top and the water can find it way to certain spots.

 

Once a year I go up and check the product to use can be found at Homepro etc.  there are a number to choose. I just found a leak yesterday it was a simple crack tile baring could see with the naked eye but enough for lots of water to come in and damage my ceiling.

Yes, there is no sealant on the caps. No cement either. Thanks.

[PeterA]

Just now, nervona81732 said:

Two words, "spray foam " it worked excellent for me and many others. Take notice m if you have a two story , it will retain heat upstairs. just Saying.

Single story, but the ceiling is nearly 4 meters high. I have a big ceiling fan there, and it keeps it fairly cool.

[jadee]

Hi, I think what you need is some roofing cement. You can buy it from Home Pro - Crocodile Flexible Waterproofing cement. You need to pull out the damages tile(s), apply some cement on the back of the replacement(s) and then slide it/them back in. From the photos I can't tell if your roof already has this. 
Here's a link to the product you need: 
https://www.homepro.co.th/p/271154

[flynn]

Forget about trying to fix the silver foil, sisalation, the way they install it here is not for stopping leaks it’s for insulation, don’t go the thai way and fill your valley with cement, seems like bad workmanship on your roof, have a proper valley installed if that is the problem, the hips now Are not cemented. And are called dry ridges , they Should have installed a flashing first then the hip and ridge ties, here is a few pictures of mine and the Thai neighbors, spot the difference, 

[transam]

6 minutes ago, flynn said:

Forget about trying to fix the silver foil, sisalation, the way they install it here is not for stopping leaks it’s for insulation, don’t go the thai way and fill your valley with cement, seems like bad workmanship on your roof, have a proper valley installed if that is the problem, the hips now Are not cemented. And are called dry ridges , they Should have installed a flashing first then the hip and ridge ties, here is a few pictures of mine and the Thai neighbors, spot the difference, 

Perhaps you have never had the yearly storm problem where the regular build doesn't work.

You have shown pics of a lash up, not done by a bloke who can make it look nice...????

[Tropposurfer]

18 hours ago, transam said:

Mine is the same, which is good for my fix.

I see they have not put cement along the edges of the ridge tiles, water can be blown in there too. Mine were cemented and red tile painted when they built the house...

Correct transam ???? Lift the entire ridge capping mix, clean and inspect thoroughly, re-lay capping and seal both sides of the entire cap-line with a waterproof cement mix (Silasec - Australian brand waterproofing cement additive AAA solution!). You can add any colour you like its called cement 'Oxide' - a fine powder added to the mixer).  

For the valleys lift the tiles either side along the entire valley from ridge cap to gutter/overhang. 

Clean thoroughly all debris (you'll have junk and detritus there for sure).

Then check condition of and if inadequate replace the valley flashing. To be super-sure of no future leaks underlay a sheet of roof sarking (CSR make great products for all your needs) beneath, and wider than the hard valley flashing, tack down the edges, then drop the flashing in on top of this, then re-tile.

Some might say this is overkill but you won't ever get moisture past these two barriers if done neatly and thoroughly. 

On builds I've done I've seen many of my roofing contractors lay a heavy line of silicone (external high quality, UV stable, heat resistant) all the way down the flashing line as they relaying the valley tiles to ensure a seal all the way down the valley sides to stop later water ingress.

Do not use internal Wall or internal roofing sarking only use a waterproof rated membrane material e.g. Enviroseal!!! - a roof sarking that's designed to inhibit capillary action across the membrane surface NOT just a sheet of builders plastic or some other quick cheap fix.

The advice about gutter drip lines and rubbish build up is also good info to check out. If you have small dimension guttering you might want to consider replacing with much larger dimension guttering and downpipes this takes water away faster and avoids splashback, filling and back-overflow onto the eave walls and possibly inside the walls. 

[flynn]

17 minutes ago, transam said:

Perhaps you have never had the yearly storm problem where the regular build doesn't work.

You have shown pics of a lash up, not done by a bloke who can make it look nice...????

Roofer for 50 years so I do know a little about the subject, 

[transam]

Just now, flynn said:

Roofer for 50 years so I do know a little about the subject, 

In Thailand.....?  ????

[CM Dad]

The problem with trying to seal with cement or a cement-like mixture is that after several years in the hot sun the cement shrinks, contracts and cracks.  My rented house has done this and it has been re-roofed and sealed using cement by the landlord, but now it is starting to crack again.  I have decided that I will most likely have to find a piece of land and build my own house.  When I do that, I will not use these kind of tiles, but will go for the more expensive but more durable tiles used in western countries.  Unfortunately, Thai builders usually try and cut corners by doing everything as cheaply as possible.

[transam]

5 minutes ago, CM Dad said:

The problem with trying to seal with cement or a cement-like mixture is that after several years in the hot sun the cement shrinks, contracts and cracks.  My rented house has done this and it has been re-roofed and sealed using cement by the landlord, but now it is starting to crack again.  I have decided that I will most likely have to find a piece of land and build my own house.  When I do that, I will not use these kind of tiles, but will go for the more expensive but more durable tiles used in western countries.  Unfortunately, Thai builders usually try and cut corners by doing everything as cheaply as possible.

Why don't cement roof tiles crack after many years in the sun..?

[revup]

I had a similar problem ten years ago. In my case, a drainage gully overfilled under very heavy rain. I put a corrugated roofing panel below the area, angling it to channel water into a large bowl that collects the water. The big rain comes only once or twice a year, so the water evaporates before the bowl overflows. It has been working without any problem since that time. My neighbor had same problem but paid a building company to do much the same thing. The building firm did a bigger job, channeling the water out into a new gutter that they built.

Edited April 14, 2020 by revup

[chilly07]

Gullies need to be opened up to allow faster run off as otherwise they overflow, cracked tiles should be filled, pitch closers should be reset. Silicone coloured fillers also help. My view is that roof foil underliners prevent ventilation and divert leaks making it difficult to locate them.

[chilly07]

Also gutters cannot cope with tropical downpours and are best avoided as they will overflow where you don't want them to

[Jenkins9039]

Use PU Foam (97 THB for 750mm via Lazada) just make sure its in an area where fire can't be started (electricity etc), also turn the power off for the time you spray and until 1hr after its set. 

 

Will add insulation whilst also sealing the gap. 

[Stevemercer]

WE had leaks after the first big storm a few weeks ago. I cleaned out the leaves which seemed to fix the problem. I won't go on the roof these days and use a long pole with a rag tied on the end.

 

I used to get onto the roof myself once a year to silicon any cracked tiles and remove leaves from the caps. Last year I fell nearly 5 metres through the roof/ceiling. I knocked myself unconcious, and was in hospital for a few days, but suffered no permanent damage.

 

The pitch on our roof is not really steep enough so any trapped leaves can wreak havoc. The local neighbourhood lads often fire marbles out of home made pipe guns and these crack the tiles if they land on the roof. 

[Fruit Trader]

1 hour ago, flynn said:

Roofer for 50 years so I do know a little about the subject, 

Roofers dont really exist in LOS. The roofing hat is handed to whoever is free at the time.

 

If decent quality valley trays are installed and supported correctly along the length they do not leak or allow heavy monsoon rain to seep over their edge.

 

The common method of throwing lengths of bent tin down the valley will often fail during heavy rain.

 

The same applies to the ridge where Thai workers often leave a huge gap in the tiles and attempt to fill with mountains of cement and a cap that barely closes the gap.

[albertik]

Sorry about your fall Mr. Stevemercer.  I had similar leakage and found birds had made nests in the roof gullys, After I had the nests removed, I installed several tokays (the overgrown geckos) to police the birds.

Now I send someone up (it's 2 stories) periodically to clear away any debris.

 

[ReLo]

Can someone tell me whey people still use this kind of ugly old style roof in 2020 ?

Why not flat roof or even unique slope roof ?

just wondering why things do not improve in this world ?

 

[transam]

4 minutes ago, ReLo said:

Can someone tell me whey people still use this kind of ugly old style roof in 2020 ?

Why not flat roof or even unique slope roof ?

just wondering why things do not improve in this world ?

 

I don't watch tele on the roof....????

[moontang]

21 hours ago, PeterA said:

Here is a shot of what my gully's look like. I can barely get a finger in there. There are a lot of leaves though. Pulling some of the tiles is possible.

There should be a gulley there so the water drains down..about 6 inches wide.  Anything that causes water to do anything except flow straight down is problematic, including something as simple as a tree branch touching the roof.  I had a similar roof in CM, with no underlayment, just wired to the supports..never leaked a drop, and was 10 years old when i sold it.  If you dont have a fairly steep pitch, you need underlayment.  In the US, there would be an OSB deck, #15 or #30 felt paper, then the clay or cement shingles...

[KKr]

22 hours ago, frequentatore said:

Some tiles crack (look carefully at your pics). I had the same problem. Go on the roof and use  some cement waterplug. (1 KG container)

looking at the outside in close up, it looks like the zinc / metal sheet, where the two angled roof surfaces meet, is out of place.

Edited April 14, 2020 by KKr

[Darkside Gray]

Get some cement into the gully should fix it,

[KKr]

1 hour ago, ReLo said:

Can someone tell me whey people still use this kind of ugly old style roof in 2020 ?

Why not flat roof or even unique slope roof ?

just wondering why things do not improve in this world ?

 

because it is a proven methodology,
and moreover most roof tiles are not ugly, but need to be supported and applied properly.

but each to his own: 
imhE flat roofs are prone to leakage; steel sheeting roofs "evaporate" over time, in my experience 15-20 years (this site says longer: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/average-life-roofing-94238.html) ; sheets of fibre glass and other materials are noisy; slanted concrete, unless properly water proofed, sucks up humidity so cracks when frozen or heated; shingles are easy but need slope and may not have a long life in the tropical sun; Reeds are beautiful but very hospitable unless properly treated, and a major investment every ten years or so.

[Paradice lost]

For 3 years I had a similar problem with a similar roof and tried everything without success.  A lot of water was getting into some electrics in strangest of places, with obvious results.  Eventually, I instructed the worthless builder to remove the ridge tiles (which were just cemented in place) the cover the ridge with 250mm wide tar covered plastic, that you can buy in rolls quite cheaply from most building supplier, then replace the ridge tile seated on cement.  PROBLEM SOVLED!

[flynn]

7 hours ago, transam said:

In Thailand.....?  ????

No only in the uk Germany and Australia, came here to retire, 

‘our work is a bit more precise,

 

[Paul DS]

Okay, I'm sure youve had some suggestions, firstly I am not a builder etc, but I have repaired and advised on many roof leaking issues in Thailand with success.

 

Firstly it looks like on your pictures you have no gulley?? So where do you expect water to go? I think thats quite unusual. 

 

My experience generally oftens comes down to one of a few faults:

 

1. The tiles were not overlapped enough, normally the overlap from one tile to the next should be atround 1/3rd of the tile, less and water will run inside.

 

2. There is no tar paper etc internally.

 

3. There is insufficent support beams for the roof / tiles, creating a bow effect in the roof itself.

 

3. The gutter down pipes are not large enough, creating a backup...this can be easily tested by removing the down pipe and letting the water flow straight out, if resolved you know the problem.

 

If the tiles were not overlapped enough, then the only real permanent answer is to lay the tiles again, alerntatively as you will often see around the country...the tiles have had cement laid under the tiles (this can work if lucky)

 

You will also see in many hardware shops very large heavy duty plastic sheeting on rolls.... I have seen this used very effectively inside the roof, preventing the leakage inside.

 

So cheap is plastic and cement, better is relaying the tiles with gulleys.

 

Best Paul

Edited April 14, 2020 by Paul DS

[transam]

14 hours ago, flynn said:

No only in the uk Germany and Australia, came here to retire, 

‘our work is a bit more precise,

 

Then you will know that LOS roof structures are cr_p, metal box section arced together to make a frame, no wood involved. The quality of the roof structure depends on who welded it together and laid the water ingress protection.

In LOS we have torrential, day long downpours in season, coupled with gale force winds at times, it is the combination of the two that causes the problems, when the conditions are just right for internal water damage.

But that's not all, electricity, drainage and water installations are all questionable here, am sure many members have the T-shirt for them all..