Repairing the leaking concrete roof

Mr Yong applying sealant to the joints
of the metal flashing

Mr Yong inspecting the existing metal flashing

Trying to nail the flashing to the brick wall behind
the air conditioner unit is a tricky business

Tight corner. Lack of working space

New sealant to seal the gap for water tightness

Engaged Mr Yong our regular contractor to treat the leaking concrete roof above the kitchen. Due to normal wear and tear the existing sealant at the joint between the gi rainwater flashing and the plastered wall have opened up. rainwater seeped through the gaps in the joint into the kitchen below. 

He spent one whole afternoon adding new gi flashing and sealing the old joints. After sealing the joints he also applied a fibre reinforced coating to ensure that the leakage is completely plugged.

Paid him RM350 for the rectification work.

Wet again

While last evening's one hour downpour caused flash floods and brought traffic to a standstill in many parts of the city the storm brought rainwater into the master bedroom.

After returning home from a shopping trip found a pool of water on the floor beside the table lamp and also signs of water mark on the ceiling of the master bedroom. Fortunately only a pool of water on the floor and not the whole room inundated with rain water. So it was quite easy to remove the water with a mop and a pail.

Apparently the gale force wind must have had forced rain water to penetrate some gaps in the roof covering or lifted the zinc flashing causing the rainwater to fall into the room. From past experience the roof only leaks if the rain is accompanied by strong winds. However, last evening's wind was exceptionally strong.

This morning at the first opportunity spoke to Pak Argus the friendly Indonesian contractor who is currently renovating my next door neighbour's house about the leaking roof. Although in his 50s and not feeling particularly well today he climbed up the roof with the aid of a ladder to inspect the roof covering. After the inspection he found the cause of the leaks ; 5 pieces of cracked tiles.

"Call me again if there are further leaks", Pak Argus said cheerfully after replacing the 5 damaged tiles and descending from the roof. I was lucky because he was using the same type of roofing tiles as my house in his renovation work and there are some spare ones lying around unused.

"How much should I pay you". I asked as I wanted to make a payment in gratitude to his service.

"Twenty Ringgit", Pak Argus flashed me his toothy smile before returning to his work.