4 am scare

[redrider90]

We've had 10" of rain in the last 7-8 days. That last 3 days it has been nonstop . I woke up and at 4AM and sat on the bedside. I felt a drip of water on my leg. Oh Oh I said. (roof is less 9 years old). I get out a high beam LED and I do not see a wet spot on the ceiling. Then I see where the offending water is coming from... it is coming out of the socket of a recessed light fixture in the ceiling. Wow what a place for a water leak in the roof!
   What's next? Well don't turn on the lights for sure and find the breaker. Wait for rain to stop and hope for the best in finding the leak. I have a very low pitched roof so no shingles. I have a large vinyl bladder roof and so it could be anything from a seam where it is welded together to a patch around a vent as well as the interface attachment around the whole to the chimney. Good news is I have sheet rock that is covered in fiberglass and not paper so it cannot grow mold. My foam insulation is mold proof and all the internal frame is sprayed with a silver based paint that prevents mold from growing on the wood. Now I have to find entry point as I have not attic: just 6" between roof and internal ceiling. But damn why did it follow the electrical line and leak out of a socket. Bummer city.

[Wayne Orwig]

I bought a cheap borescope this summer for just a few dollars. Plug it into my Windows tablet and snake it anywhere to see what is there. Maybe something like that would help find the source of the leak.

[Triple Jim]

Sorry about that, Harvey, I hate that kind of problem.  With your fiberglass faced sheetrock, maybe a hole for an electrical box was one of the few places water could get out.  Better than having it soak into the gypsum like  it would do in most houses.

[Vagrant]

my flat roof in AZ. had the same issue in high wind and heavy rain. I tried everything. finally figured out it was coming in from the louvers on top of the roof mounted furnace. It then followed the duct work. I made a wind cover out of sheet metal and cured it.

[lucian]

With rubber membrane it is almost always at a penetration ie. vent pipe, chimney ect. If you can get up there sooner than later you can press on anything that looks suspect and feel the squishyness and sometimes see water squeeze out.  I have installed rubber roofing for 30 years and my advice is check the chimney work closely..If the masonry is cracked or porous at all water can bypass the base flashing. We install  copper thru pan flashing to prevent that in new chimneys.   If the rubber is installed over fiber board underlayment and it is saturated the membrane should be lifted, the fiber board replaced and the rubber re glued.Best of luck  Dave