I'm under contract on a townhouse and there's a roof leak issue. I don't know anything about construction but my gut is that the roof design is concerning enough to walk away. I don't want to make too little or too much out of the roof issue, though, and would appreciate knowledgeable feedback.
The unit I'm under contract for had a leak develop this past week through a top floor bedroom ceiling. The building has a flat roof with a deck and pergola on it. Via the seller's agent, the seller had $10,000 of roof work done a few years ago but I have no details beyond that. The home inspection found evidence of water damage (but not active leaking) at another location on the top floor ceiling as well. The source of the leaks couldn't be determined from the roof because much of the roof is covered by a deck but the big leak appeared to be originating from the building's exterior wall where home inspector observed water running off the shingling of the side wall bordering the deck and behind the siding in the area of the leak. He also was concerned that the deck elements sitting on top of the impermeable membrane (the deck supports and the posts for the pergola) were causing water to pool & those might be leak sites.
My agent and I were able to be at the house yesterday when the seller's repair person came to take a look. I was expecting a roofer. Instead she hired a handyman. He seems competent but said he hasn't done warranties before. He removed the ceiling in the area of the active leak. The insulation was soaked, as was the plywood subfloor and the the joists. He noted that there was rubber spray in the area that was currently leaking which must have been part of an older inadequate repair. Being able to see where the water was coming from, he thinks it's leaking from around where the pergola posts are sitting on the membrane but won't know for sure until the deck is removed, the posts jacked up, the membrane cut open, and whatever is in-between the membrane and the subfloor cut through (the subflooring is level while the rooftop is slanted so he isn't sure what material was used to slant the rooftop). He was supposed to be starting on that today and my realtor went by to see what was happening but noone was there when she stopped by so she's trying to contact the project manager.
Bigger picture, the units are all 3 stories with the top being a flat roof with deck and pergola. They're 6-7 years old. I've talked to several owners and the head of the HOA. Many of the units have had multiple roof leaks (including all 3 owners I talked to). According to the head of the HOA, the roofs were installed improperly with the seams not sealed and the membrane cut too short in some areas around doorways. He said the owners were not able to go after the builder because lawyers told them the builder was "untouchable" (dunno what that means exactly but that's all I got). He said most of the leaks have been cheap to repair with patching so long as they're not under the deck. The units are fee simple and the owners are responsible for everything exterior. The HOA currently doesn't do any maintenance and the head of the HOA sounds pretty frustrated and it sounds a bit dysfunctional. I asked about being able to change the angle of the top of the sidewall to have it dump water off the side of the building instead of onto the deck but he said it would have to go through the architectural committee for the broader master development association that controls the entire commercial/residential area. Both the home inspector and the handyman who have looked at the roof so far have said they think these roofs are going to have recurrent leaks because of the design.
What do y'all think?
