Every October our phones fill with the same calls, and most of them were preventable in September. Here is the check we recommend — all of it from the ground, with your phone camera on maximum zoom.
From the ground, with a zoom lens
- Ridge line. Sight along it. A wavy ridge or a gap in the pointing mortar is water's front door.
- Slipped or cracked tiles. One misaligned tile stands out against the pattern. Photograph it — a roofer can often quote from that photo alone.
- Gutters at the joints. Stain streaks below a gutter joint mean it is already overflowing in heavy rain.
- Downpipe outlets. During the next rain, watch where the water exits. A trickle from a pipe that should gush means a blockage upstream.
- Flashing at walls and chimneys. Look for lifted edges or cracked sealant where the roof meets vertical surfaces. This is the most common leak source we repair.
- Ceiling corners inside. Faint yellow halos are last season's leaks announcing this season's plans.
What not to do yourself
Two things, and we mean it. Do not climb onto the roof — wet clay tiles and mossy metal decks put homeowners in hospital every monsoon. And do not seal suspicious gaps with silicone from the hardware shop: sealing the wrong gap traps water inside the roof build-up, and turns a RM300 repair into a RM3,000 one.
When to call
If any item above shows a defect, book an inspection on a dry morning. A proper roofer will hose-test rather than guess, and quote you in writing. Our own inspection slots fill four to six weeks before monsoon peaks, so early callers get the calm schedule.