Can A Leaky Roof Cause Electrical Problems?
You know your roof has a tiny leak, and you mean to get to it soon. But now, the nagging voice in your head worries at you: can a leaky roof cause electrical problems in your Massachusetts home? With the right roofer on your side, you can put those worries to rest.
Frying Fixtures
Ceiling fixtures attach to ceiling joists above your head. Those joists are also the floor joists for the floor one flight up. That means ceiling fixtures — fans, chandeliers, recessed lighting — have electrical boxes below the attic floor.
Water entering your attic from a nasty roof leak can easily find its way into the junction boxes of those ceiling electrical fixtures. That water can cause any number of major problems:
- Intermittent brown-outs or black-outs
- Lights that flicker or fail to turn on at the wall switch
- Short circuits
- Thrown circuit breakers
- Electrical fires
Within Walls
Water leaking into your attic can also find its way down into your interior walls, between the drywall and studs. It can, if ignored for a long time, cause damage to wall switches, electrical outlets, and even your circuit breaker panel or fusebox.
Electrical shock is one unpleasant indication of a roof leak finding its way down to your walls. If you receive a painful jolt when you plug something into an outlet, water from a roof leak could be inside the outlet box. Only outlets routinely exposed to moisture — outside, in the kitchen, in the bathroom — have Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI). Other outlets cannot protect you!
Long before you confront the sure disaster of an electrical fire inside your home’s walls, you will smell mold and mildew forming. You will notice increased humidity and may even see staining on ceilings and walls.
Two Contractors
Roof leaks do not repair themselves. They do not somehow “dry up” without help from skilled professionals. To prevent electrical problems within your home and to safeguard your family, you need the skills of two different contractors:
- A highly trained roofing contractor to track down and repair the roof leak
- A licensed electrician to assess any damage the dripping water may have caused
Avoid using suspect outlets and switches until the electrician and roofer inspect your home. Couto Construction proudly serves homeowners throughout Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island. Contact us today to learn more about our complete range of residential roofing services.