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Use Drone to Find Roof Leak

David Cox has a drone with a GoPro camera on it. He's also got a leak in his wood-framed chimney. Even though the shot could have been a little closer in this video below, it only took me about three seconds to locate the problem.

This is an EXCELLENT example of how technology can help you around your home. Way to go David! Oh, my answer as to what's wrong is just below the video.

 

 

The issue is the metal cap was formed wrong. It was LEVEL across the top and gravity has caused it to become depressed so water collects on the concave surface rather than run off of it. It can be fixed one of two ways:

  • Remove the cap and put on the wood framing BELOW a few bent or shaped metal pieces that force the metal cap, once re-attached, to have a CONVEX shape. I'd only do this if the existing cap is one piece with NO SEAMS.
  • Have a metal fabricator make a new one-piece cap that has the shape of a low-slope hip roof so there's natural fall to the cap. If doing this, I'd investigate creating more separation between the two chimney pipes. They're too close in my opinion.
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