Expert: Brad Zacharia - 10/24/2005

Question
Brad:  An addition was added to my home many years ago.  The room has a flat roof - when I look in the crawl space there are metal beams? or metal supports of some kind.  My problem is that I get a leak on the inside of my windows. Also, when it rains extremely hard here in Las Vegas, the carpet around the edge of the room is damp - I have pulled it up and the same thing - It is dry on the outside the house, but wet on the inside of the wall. I have checked everything I can think of and can't seem to find where it leaks.  Also the patio, which is an extension of the room leaks - I have coated around the edge of the roof and at the edge where the flat roof begins but to no avail - Is the water traveling down those metal valley beams in the crawl space? or where in the world is the leak coming from?

Thank You
Barbara

Answer
There are so many things that it could be. Based on your information I’d have no idea. You could have a humidity problem which has nothing to do with rain. You didn’t say that the window problem occurs during rains. The water around the floor of the room could be water seeping in from the lawn outside. Is the floor at that level? You have to follow the trail of water to see where it takes you.

Brad