Leaking roof

I was pottering through my house, sore knee and all, when I noticed an unusual sound. It was the ‘pat, pat, pat’ of dripping water. I wasn’t sure where from. The previous time I had had a sound like that was associated with a blocked gutter of the conservatory, with water dripping on the plastic window sill. But this seemed to come from higher up. I hobbled up the stairs. And I heard it came from the right. So I opened the bedroom door. And there it was! 

There was water dripping through the hatch in the ceiling, onto the bed. Oh dear. I had hoped the sound would be coming in through the window! But that was clearly not the case. After having busted my knee the night before I was feeling like this was not my week. I went downstairs and got the washing up bowl. That would have to manage the situation for now. And I remembered that Sue and Dean had recommended a roofer. I quickly googled them. And Google said they were open 24 hours! So I gave them a ring.

Emergency measure

Notice the droplet on the corner

They said they could come and have a look the day after. I figured I could manage with the washing up bowl, or perhaps a bucket, until that time. But shortly after we had hung up they phoned me back. They said they were worried my whole ceiling would get soaked and the plasterboard would come down. They offered to come right away. And it turned out they weren't coming from far.

A van pulled up and a young man came out. I showed him where the problem was. I also told him it was probably easier to get into the loft in the office; that has a much bigger hatch. But he didn't need that. He said he had been a climber, and he promptly vanished into the ceiling. And he spotted what the problem was. And in the meantime, his brother came in as well. I think it is just them who are the company. Nant Ffrancon Roofing, in case anybody wonders.

Franco hard at work 

Franco, the roofer, had quickly diagnosed the problem. The people who had installed my solar panels had drilled through the roofing slates, and put some rubber bungs in to make everything waterproof again. That is a temporary solution. They're not supposed to drill through people’s roofs. Franco said that he sees this a lot; by the time you find out that the panel installation had made your roof leaky, the work is out of warranty and you are on your own. But he had a resin gun with some stuff in it that could at least fix the acute problem.

When he had stopped leaking, the men went home again. They said they would be in touch for doing a more proper job. They figured they had to re-waterproof all the fixing points. I suppose I have to have that done. I am not keen on all the other bungs giving up one by one! I like my roof waterproof thank you very much.

In the end, the situation turned out to be a lot less bad than it could have been. It looked like my ceiling was still okay. The dripping has clearly not gone on for very long, as the bed wasn't very soaked. And there was a solution. Altogether, catastrophe averted. And I will report back about the men coming back for actually getting on the roof and doing more than an emergency repair!