Give Roof Leaks The Boot
- Peeling wallpaper in kitchen or bathrooms
- Cracked or peeling paint on washroom ceilings
- Puckered shingles around vent pipes on your roof
- Brown water mark stains on kitchen or bathroom ceilings
We have all been in a home and noticed those ugly brown ceiling stains, but most of us have no clue what they are caused by. Many homeowners call a roofer and pay thousands for a new shingles, when a couple hundred bucks could have fixed the issue!
Mystery roof leaks are often caused by what roofers call ‘pipe boots’.
Pipe Boots are the coverings that go over the vent pipes that stick out of your roof. And many of them have been allowing rain to leak into homes. Most of these type of leaks are not detected for months…or even years. At Real Good Roofing we pay careful attention to their condition, and have found that replacing them can buy you more time before you buy a new roof!
If your pipe boot covering fails, rain will leak into your home and travel along the vent pipe. This is why you might see water stains in the ceiling or walls in your kitchen or bathroom areas, which is where the vent pipe begins its journey up toward your roof. Sometimes leaks go undetected for years, building up behind ceilings or walls and soaking insulation, promoting the growth of mold and mildew which can create huge and dangerous problems for your family.
Every home has plumbing vent pipes, which allow air to enter the waste line of your home’s plumbing system. This air provides needed pressure to push the waste water into the sewer system. These vent pipes always run up from a kitchen, bathroom and laundry room and out through your roof. The more sinks and toilets, the more boots your home will have.
The system is designed so that rain can enter into the pipe and be carried away safely from your home. The problems arise when the coverings around these pipes, called boots or vent pipe covers, crack, break, peel up or get shifted with the natural movements that occur on your roof, from expansion and contraction.