Garage ceiling damaged because of rain

[newBee11]

Hello Everyone,

I need your help and guidance on the below recent issue.
I just found out my garage ceiling got as severe water damage as you can see in the picture below.
Can anyone tell me how much expense I am looking at. Also, the roof above the garage is good, as I got it checked by a roofer and he was suggesting to change the window of a room above the garage, but I am not sure what to do.

 

[MikeC55]

If the damage is confined to that area, you're only talking about a roll or 2 of insulation and a few sheets of drywall. Maybe $100 or so in materials. If it is a window leak due to poor flashing, etc., that could be quite a bit more costly to replace and properly install.

 

[newBee11]

If the damage is confined to that area, you're only talking about a roll or 2 of insulation and a few sheets of drywall. Maybe $100 or so in materials. If it is a window leak due to poor flashing, etc., that could be quite a bit more costly to replace and properly install.

I am still not sure what I causing this damage. It could be brick but I don't see any visible defects.

 

[The Cobbler]

that's a lot of water came in, it should be fairly easy to find where it came from .
a garden hose at the window . I would look at the drains in the window to start with

 

[nadogail]

From my perspective, it looks like something a reasonably competent person could fix in an afternoon. Maybe $100 in materials.

 

[newBee11]

I got a quote of 5k from a contractor, that my insurance adjuster sent, but he was asking me to sign an agreement, without signing he won't do the proper inspection and the agreement stating the if my insurance doesn't pay , then I hv to pay the whole amount, so I am gathering knowledge.

 

[The Cobbler]

well, I would not involve insurance co for that . but having done tons of drywall in my career , I may be biased
and 4 K is wayyyyy too much, from what I see in your picture

 

[newBee11]

I have added more pictures, I think water damage has taken over half of the garage ceiling. If not insurance I can't afford that much upfront.

 

[The Cobbler]

how many square feet is the ceiling ?
do you need drywall, can you use plywood & do it yourself?

 

[newBee11]

At least 150 sq foot. No I can't do it myself, I would need someone else to do it.

 

[The Cobbler]

OK, but another suggestion,
have you talked to your insurance yet? they will either approve this guy or not . it's not up to you to gamble whether or not the insc. will pay

 

[newBee11]

Yes, I have talked to my insurance and they have sent this contractor and he came and asked me to sign an agreement before he even completed his full inspection.

 

[The Cobbler]

I would talk to your adjuster. I would not sign anything until you know what's what with the ins. co.

 

[mepstein]

Yes, I have talked to my insurance and they have sent this contractor and he came and asked me to sign an agreement before he even completed his full inspection.

Tell him to hit the road. Find someone who’s legit.

 

[Youngandfree]

My guess it a vent boot is rotted. Need to get in the attic to find the entrance.

 

[newBee11]

My guess it a vent boot is rotted. Need to get in the attic to find the entrance.

I checked the roof, and everything seems fine

 

[mikedodge]

There's no point to fixing it before finding the leak. Since the insulation is wet you might aswll pull it all down and that'll also make it easier to find the leak. It might be worth paying a contractor just to do that if you can't yourself to get an idea of how much this will actually cost.

This sounds like a shady insurance scam with the contractor. You sign with him, he gets over paid for the job and then they'll jack your rates for the claim or whatever else he finds while he's fixing it.

 

[southalabama]

I got a quote of 5k from a contractor, that my insurance adjuster sent, but he was asking me to sign an agreement, without signing he won't do the proper inspection and the agreement stating the if my insurance doesn't pay , then I hv to pay the whole amount, so I am gathering knowledge.

Been there done that. Won’t do that again. Ended up with a huge bill from a remediation company.

 

[The Cobbler]

Since the insulation is wet you might aswll pull it all down and that'll also make it easier to find the leak. It might be worth paying a contractor just to do that if you can't yourself to get an idea of how much this will actually cost.

If he's going thru insurance, i wouldn't suggest he do anything himself until approved by insc company

 

[newBee11]

Been there done that. Won’t do that again. Ended up with a huge bill from a remediation company.

Can u please tell me in detail, did u went through your home insurance and that caused u all??

 

[southalabama]

Can u please tell me in detail, did u went through your home insurance and that caused u all??

Was a commercial property. The insurance recommended a remediation company. Said start the repairs to mitigate damages. Then they balked at the totals. Left me holding the bag.

I’d almost bet kickbacks involved between adjuster and remediation company. But

 

[AC-WC]

Don't fix the ceiling until the water leak is corrected and YES get a different quote. That guy sounds like all scam to me.

 

[paredown]

My guess it a vent boot is rotted. Need to get in the attic to find the entrance.

We've been having some torrential rains lately, so if that's what occurred, then you can get a fair amount of water inside in a hurry.

A picture of the roof would be helpful.

It's probably helpful to consider two scenarios--
(1) the roof has been leaking for quite some time, and the quantity of rain recently made the damage visible. (less likely).
(2) some flaw has recently revealed itself (more likely).

I'm with YoungandFree--penetrations are a good possibility--especially vents--but extend that to flashings especially. The mention of window(s) above made me think of jobs that I have seen where "roofers" really have no idea how to flash wall-to-pitched-roof transitions, or do proper step flashings up the side of gables.

Improper flashings will often only reveal themselves when there is some combination of unusual directional weather and high amounts of rain. Around here it the 'Nor'easter' in the spring when we get sustained wind-driven driving rain from a particular direction that reveals the weakness/improper flashing.

I would get a second (old timer) roofer out to have a look. Personally I doubt that much rain could come down an improperly flashed (or failed) window wall unless there was also improper/inadequate flashing at the base of said wall.

 

[BillK]

Hello Everyone,

I need your help and guidance on the below recent issue.
I just found out my garage ceiling got as severe water damage as you can see in the picture below.
Can anyone tell me how much expense I am looking at. Also, the roof above the garage is good, as I got it checked by a roofer and he was suggesting to change the window of a room above the garage, but I am not sure what to do.

A few pictures from the outside showing the entire structure would really help.

Personally I would at least tear out the ceiling and see if you can find where the leak is coming from. That wont cost you anything to do. And like the others said I would not sign anything. Your insurance company should be handling it if that is the route you are going.

 

[T444e]

What type of room is above the garage? Bedroom, bathroom...

 

[Youngandfree]

We've been having some torrential rains lately, so if that's what occurred, then you can get a fair amount of water inside in a hurry.

A picture of the roof would be helpful.

It's probably helpful to consider two scenarios--
(1) the roof has been leaking for quite some time, and the quantity of rain recently made the damage visible. (less likely).
(2) some flaw has recently revealed itself (more likely).

I'm with YoungandFree--penetrations are a good possibility--especially vents--but extend that to flashings especially. The mention of window(s) above made me think of jobs that I have seen where "roofers" really have no idea how to flash wall-to-pitched-roof transitions, or do proper step flashings up the side of gables.

Improper flashings will often only reveal themselves when there is some combination of unusual directional weather and high amounts of rain. Around here it the 'Nor'easter' in the spring when we get sustained wind-driven driving rain from a particular direction that reveals the weakness/improper flashing.

I would get a second (old timer) roofer out to have a look. Personally I doubt that much rain could come down an improperly flashed (or failed) window wall unless there was also improper/inadequate flashing at the base of said wall.

And it won't be above the damage 90% of the time. My buddy has a bonus room over his garage. Vent goes out above bonus room. Somehow he got water I to the ceiling of his garage and it filled a light fixture. No water stains anywhere on the ceiling below the roof.

 

[mepstein]

My roofer said it’s amazing how water can travel from one spot to the next and be almost undetectable. Capillary action can pull it uphill.

 

[walta]

To my eye that ceiling look like it has been wet and patched a few times in the past.

The way I look at it this is a minor repair insurance is for tornado and fire damage.

No matter what you have less than a week to pull out the wet drywall and insulation before mold starts growing. Note most policies now exclude mold damage.

I can’t blame the contractor for wanting to get paid for the work he does. If the damages is as old as it looks the insurance seems liklely to reject the claim. People that do work need to get paid.



Walta

 

[NUTTSGT]

You need to get a utility knife, cut open and remove the damaged drywall. Pull out the wet insulation, set up a fan to get it dried out, before it causes more damage.

Once that is done, you need to find the leak, repair it and once you are positive it's fixed, repair the drywall.

 

[P0234]

If it's a roof maintenance issue, insurance may deny the claim and then you are left to pay a fat bill. Agree with others, you need to talk to your insurance provider before singing anything.

 

[Burt Shaver]

I’m a restoration contractor, I haven’t read the entire thread but I wouldn’t put that through insurance myself, a claim is a claim, doesn’t matter if it’s a 2500.00 claim or a 120,000.00 claim. I would fix something like that myself and not waste a freebie claim or risk a hike in premiums. Also from my experience when the point of entry is not caused by a sudden event like wind blowing off shingles, or a tree hitting the roof, the cause of the problem, in this case possible window flashing or seal, fixing the window would not be covered by insurance. Of course you would need to check with your insurance company. Odd that they wouldn’t have a look unless you signed work authorization, I always was required to prepare a report for the insurance company which included the cause of loss. You should be able to see some water marks and determine where that leak is coming from and if not when it’s raining or as mentioned in an earlier post, use a garden hose. Either way, a couple hundred in material and maybe 4 or 5 hours labour by the time you put the insulation in, board it, tape, fill coat and finish coat drywall mud, quick light sand, Prime, paint check if your meticulous and paint.

 

[gba2331]

I would be more worried about sopping wet insulation that leads to mold vs damaged drywall.

good luck with finding the leak, it can be tough.

 

[CombatNinja]

Get a pro out there to find the leak before you fix the damage. But I agree with the above, take detailed photos and then rip out all the wet insulation and drywall before this problem compounds. As far as you saying that the roof looks 'fine' and you don't think a leak is coming from a penetration, I'll say this: anyone who has said that they would not be able to repair that ceiling themselves is probably not qualified to determine if the roof is 'fine'. Not being a jerk, trying to help.

 

[Burt Shaver]

I can definitely understand you not being able to drywall that yourself, especially the mudding part, but after you take some pictures, could you not pull the wet insulation out? Just asking but is your inability to handle doing this work yourself health/age related? Or is it experience related? If it’s your age or health, you could hire any able bodied young person or not so young lol, 1’m 48 and still do this type of work. But yes anyways, pull that wet insulation out, keep in mind if you have vapour barrier in the ceiling the bottom of the insulation could be wet for a fair size distance. No knowledge or experience necessary to pull out wet insulation and drywall, just use some precautions as even dry drywall can come down hard, but wet drywall can come down even harder

 

[Burt Shaver]

that's a lot of water came in, it should be fairly easy to find where it came from .
a garden hose at the window . I would look at the drains in the window to start with

That is a lot of water, it may not have all came in at once, check the back of the drywall, if there’s any mold on the back of the drywall that will be an indicator that there has been a slow leak for some time, this happens more often when there’s vapour barrier, slow leak, water accumulated over time till the drywall eventually shows signs of damage from the additional weight or becomes weakened when the water makes its way to a seam in the vapour barrier. If this water cane all at once it will be very easy to find the point of entry. Is it a shingle roof or metal? Check shingles for obvious damage, steel panels can become loose after time and wind driven rain can make its way beneath the panels with a wind driven rain.

 

[ratflinger]

Yes, I have talked to my insurance and they have sent this contractor and he came and asked me to sign an agreement before he even completed his full inspection.

No, you talked to the adjuster. Just because your insurance company sent an adjuster out does not mean that person works for the insurance company. The adjuster and the contractor *may* be trying to run a scam on you. Ask your agent if this guy works for the company or not. I've never seen where an insurance company would payout without a valid estimate.

 

[ratflinger]

I checked the roof, and everything seems fine

Did you look at the roof or in the attic? Looking at the roof is probably going to tell you squat, unless shingles were blown off, the roof won't show damage.

 

[Joemctag]

There's no point to fixing it before finding the leak. Since the insulation is wet you might aswll pull it all down and that'll also make it easier to find the leak. It might be worth paying a contractor just to do that if you can't yourself to get an idea of how much this will actually cost.

This sounds like a shady insurance scam with the contractor. You sign with him, he gets over paid for the job and then they'll jack your rates for the claim or whatever else he finds while he's fixing it.

Agree. Maybe you could ask your insurance if you or they could document the damage and then if you could pull down damaged ceiling areas without jeopardizing a claim. Having some of the ceiling down should help find the leak(s).
No way would I proceed until a leak was found, fixed and had withstood some big rains before I re-did the ceiling.

 

[Burt Shaver]

Yes, I have talked to my insurance and they have sent this contractor and he came and asked me to sign an agreement before he even completed his full inspection.

I always had a contract signed before I did any work, I was a preferred contractor with 4 insurance companies. I was completely upfront with the insured, my contract basically said the home owner would pay if the insurance company didn’t. Have you found out if you have coverage yet? It’s not sounding good with there not being any obvious damage to the roof, damages cause over time were never covered with any company I worked for, it had to be a one time event, like shingles blow off, tree hit house etc. As mentioned the best way to find the leak is to look in the attic, I’m sure it will be obvious as it looks like you have had a slow leak for some time.

 

[racecougar]

I’d focus less on the repair cost right now and more on making sure the moisture source is fully dealt with.

I imagine the repair cost is no longer a focal point for the OP, as this thread was from 2024.