Leaking flat roof

[stevewool]

We have been informed that there is a wet patch on one of the walls it looks like it may be coming down from the roof which is a flat slab of concrete , as we are not there yet and if I did not asked about any leaks or problems we would not have been told about it, so how bad could it be .

The roof like I said is a flat slab of concrete which is our roof terrace, I would have thought this would have been sealed in some sort of way , there are no tiles fitted like you see on some roofs ,so could this be the problem, if not are there products that you can use to seal the roof, like I have said we are not there yet , it could be nothing or it could be something terrible, any advice would be welcome ,thank you.

[Jack Peterson]

4 minutes ago, stevewool said:

any advice would be welcome ,thank you.

 Wait for it Steve, anytime now 

[hk blues]

There are numerous products available here to seal concrete - some of them require painting once dry to make an effective seal, others don't.  I would also add that the water may not be coming from the roof - we had ongoing issued with water seeping through the walls themselves that took some time to effectively seal.  I'd advise you get someone who knows what they are doing to take a look before you fix something that wasn't actually broken!

P.S. Alternatively, don't buy houses with flat roofs!  

[Marvin Boggs]

Not discourage anyone, but we have water that seeps through one of our WALLS when the rain is heavy.  Blowing in up under the roof maybe.  We have a terrace also, and the key to that seems to be good drainage.  It won't have a chance to leak through if it has somewhere to go. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

7 hours ago, stevewool said:

so how bad could it be .

Nothing fecking works!  Seriously.  Just been through that.  Had to build a roof on top of the roof and put waterproofing on the concrete roof etc etc.  Concrete is porous and any fix is just a short time fix.  Eventually water will get through.  Filipinos seem to put up with it.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Dave Hounddriver

[stevewool]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

 Filipinos seem to put up with it.

So my best bet is to see it as some sort of wall art then.

[Mike J]

I would recommend you wait until you get here.  You are much more likely to treat the cause instead of the symptoms by being on site. 

In the meantime, tell them they are fortunate.  Not every house in the Philippines has running water. 

[Mike J]

Have a look at this product.  Boysen products are widely available, expensive but you normally get what you pay for with paint.  

http://www.eboysen.com/products.do?item_id=921

[Tommy T.]

On 9/30/2019 at 4:49 PM, hk blues said:

we had ongoing issued with water seeping through the walls themselves that took some time to effectively seal.  I'd advise you get someone who knows what they are doing to take a look before you fix something that wasn't actually broken!

That is the situation in this apartment. Last year there were three areas where the floors would get puddles from heavy rain storms. The owner had some guys come in and they cleaned out cracks in the external walls, then sealed and painted... No more leaks. Oh... and this is a terrace flat roof building.

[sonjack2847]

You must be there when any repairs are carried out or they bodge it and get on the red horse. You can tell them until you are blue in the face and as soon as your back is turned they go back to chit work and that is ok attitude. Any fix you do here is only as good as the person doing it same as anywhere.