I would guess they had a broken window or left open window through winter as well? I say that because you see damage on the walls from water damage but yet the roof in that area does not look as damaged as I would expect to see.
If there is a leak left long enough it will look like a bomb was dropped on the roof all the way down to the basement.
Pretty easy to take care of something like this yourself if you’re comfortable with climbing on a roof. Once you know where the water is coming in at you climb on the roof, remove shingles, get a reciprocating saw and hack out the rotted part. Get some 2×4’s and cut them so they fit around the outside of your opening(preferably located right next to some trusses) attach your 2×4’s to the trusses at the same pitch as the roof, cut out some OSB for opening screw that down, get some ice and water shield and lay that down over your new OSB and preferably tuck it under the shingles that are still on the roof, install shingles. Done. Should take you a few hours to do it and itll save you a shit ton of money.
Holy God, unless you are about to buy that for about $3.50, RUN. The damage you don’t see is very like worse than what you do. You can’t judge from pics, but this needs to be stripped to the studs, with a heavy possibility of structural framing repairs due to rot, and expensive mold remediation.
I’ve seen some shit, working in insurance. Worst roof leak case I saw, they’d left going for 5+ years in a residence, before calling in a claim. Some highlights (I’m on mobile, so no bullets):
1) Entire rooms worth of ceilings and interior walls had rotted completely out. We’re talking nothing standing but the framing. They’d hung large rugs and blankets over some sections of exposed frame to simulate walls.
2) The moisture warped the ceiling fan blades. They’d sagged downwards to the point they looked like wilted flowers hanging from the ceiling.
3) Floor coverings has rotted out, and a not insignificant amount of the kitchen subfloor had rotted away. You could stand in the kitchen, and look down into the crawlspace.
Water damage can be horrific, especially when left alone. Never wait to fix a leak.
I love how the realtor photos always look like lipstick on a pig. Like they obviously retouched the fuck out of those photos to make it look like some hipster loft but in reality it’s just a lot of mold and a giant money pit.
Yes. Had to sell my father’s second house and the person living there had let a hole develop in the roof. Not even a tarp. Entire top floor was trashed. The flooring was buckled knee high.
The thing to remember about leaky roofs, how long did the roof leak before these results started to appear. The longer the leak went undetected the more damage it has done.
Yes water will cause that much damage. AND now you’d have to open the walls, check supports and see if supports need replacing or sistering :/ I hope this is something you were looking to buy and not something you bought x.x
Depending on the size of the leak and how long its leaking. Yes.
I work in a water removal service and just about every time theres a roof leak. It’s a high chance of it going though multiple floors if there are multiple floors.
Water is one of the most destructive forces when it comes to houses.
Roofs protect the house and if there’s a leak, wherever the water goes, things are going to get ruined. And the path of the water can be unexpected as the water travels along this way and that.
And so, yeah, I would totally believe a roof leak could do this much damage.
Long ago, I was told that if you see water damage, you can be assured that there’s more, often a lot more and a lot worse, after you dig a little deeper.
It has to all come out. You don’t know what’s hiding under there. We’ve renovated dozens of buildings with similar damage. Always remove to the framing and mitigate anything you find.
There were a couple of small leaks on our roof when we bought the place.
We had to redo the roof cover (tar and gravel upgraded to sheet metal), fix rotted roof boards, fix a roof support (rotted out – the roof was held up by a log and a car jack), redo the patio entirely (supports rotted out), gut the master bedroom (water was leaking on that end of the house too, and running down the walls), and gut the second bedroom beside the master.
The water damage had been so bad in the master bedroom the previous owner’s metal bed frame had corroded together and needed to be cut apart so we could dispose of it.
Due to a separate leak in the master bath (seriously, a 2.5′ x 2.5′ shower, wtf?) we had to redo all the flooring and walls – it was so bad a contractor broke through the floor and almost fell to the basement.
Even after all of the work, we had carpenter ants that were eating the now-dried wood, and had to call exterminators twice to get rid of them.
Overall it took over $100k and several months to reno the house, and most of that was due to water issues.
This is both water and neglect. If you know how to deal with 100 year old houses, go for it. If you don’t, you’re in for a wild ride that I hope you have the proper masks, deep pockets, and sanity for.
Sure. Or a wild fire hose fight.
In my own personal experience- that and more.
easily
absolutely
I would guess they had a broken window or left open window through winter as well? I say that because you see damage on the walls from water damage but yet the roof in that area does not look as damaged as I would expect to see.
If there is a leak left long enough it will look like a bomb was dropped on the roof all the way down to the basement.
Pretty easy to take care of something like this yourself if you’re comfortable with climbing on a roof. Once you know where the water is coming in at you climb on the roof, remove shingles, get a reciprocating saw and hack out the rotted part. Get some 2×4’s and cut them so they fit around the outside of your opening(preferably located right next to some trusses) attach your 2×4’s to the trusses at the same pitch as the roof, cut out some OSB for opening screw that down, get some ice and water shield and lay that down over your new OSB and preferably tuck it under the shingles that are still on the roof, install shingles. Done. Should take you a few hours to do it and itll save you a shit ton of money.
Yup
I remember once reading that the easiest way to demo a house is to put a hole in the roof and wait.
yep and why significant damage occurs the longer the home owner ignores
At this point, gut and start over. There is probably mold all over in addition to the rot.
That is actually not that bad. Even a small leak can cause utter destruction.
Holy God, unless you are about to buy that for about $3.50, RUN. The damage you don’t see is very like worse than what you do. You can’t judge from pics, but this needs to be stripped to the studs, with a heavy possibility of structural framing repairs due to rot, and expensive mold remediation.
Reddit is fun seems to not be loading imager albums. Anyone else getting this?
Depending the definition of “leaky roof” that’s not a problem.
A pinhole leak that’s there for a week won’t.
A softball sized leak that’s there for several years and this would be very light damage.
It absolutely can.
I’ve seen some shit, working in insurance. Worst roof leak case I saw, they’d left going for 5+ years in a residence, before calling in a claim. Some highlights (I’m on mobile, so no bullets):
1) Entire rooms worth of ceilings and interior walls had rotted completely out. We’re talking nothing standing but the framing. They’d hung large rugs and blankets over some sections of exposed frame to simulate walls.
2) The moisture warped the ceiling fan blades. They’d sagged downwards to the point they looked like wilted flowers hanging from the ceiling.
3) Floor coverings has rotted out, and a not insignificant amount of the kitchen subfloor had rotted away. You could stand in the kitchen, and look down into the crawlspace.
Water damage can be horrific, especially when left alone. Never wait to fix a leak.
I love how the realtor photos always look like lipstick on a pig. Like they obviously retouched the fuck out of those photos to make it look like some hipster loft but in reality it’s just a lot of mold and a giant money pit.
“Hey honey, look! They have exposed……lath?!”
Yes. Had to sell my father’s second house and the person living there had let a hole develop in the roof. Not even a tarp. Entire top floor was trashed. The flooring was buckled knee high.
yes.
The thing to remember about leaky roofs, how long did the roof leak before these results started to appear. The longer the leak went undetected the more damage it has done.
Yes.
Well, the roof leak wouldn’t prop a door up in front of the fireplace, but everything else could have been from a leak, yeah.
Yikes, run away.
yes, i’ve seen it do worse.
Yes absolutely, who knows what inside the walls look like.
Yes water will cause that much damage. AND now you’d have to open the walls, check supports and see if supports need replacing or sistering :/ I hope this is something you were looking to buy and not something you bought x.x
Yes! Just dealt with this myself.
even the studs won’t be good.
Yes, do not buy this house.
Looks like a fun project
Depending on the size of the leak and how long its leaking. Yes.
I work in a water removal service and just about every time theres a roof leak. It’s a high chance of it going though multiple floors if there are multiple floors.
yes, and much more.
Water is one of the most destructive forces when it comes to houses.
Roofs protect the house and if there’s a leak, wherever the water goes, things are going to get ruined. And the path of the water can be unexpected as the water travels along this way and that.
And so, yeah, I would totally believe a roof leak could do this much damage.
Long ago, I was told that if you see water damage, you can be assured that there’s more, often a lot more and a lot worse, after you dig a little deeper.
Yep. A leaky roof really *can* cause that much damage.
It has to all come out. You don’t know what’s hiding under there. We’ve renovated dozens of buildings with similar damage. Always remove to the framing and mitigate anything you find.
There were a couple of small leaks on our roof when we bought the place.
We had to redo the roof cover (tar and gravel upgraded to sheet metal), fix rotted roof boards, fix a roof support (rotted out – the roof was held up by a log and a car jack), redo the patio entirely (supports rotted out), gut the master bedroom (water was leaking on that end of the house too, and running down the walls), and gut the second bedroom beside the master.
The water damage had been so bad in the master bedroom the previous owner’s metal bed frame had corroded together and needed to be cut apart so we could dispose of it.
Due to a separate leak in the master bath (seriously, a 2.5′ x 2.5′ shower, wtf?) we had to redo all the flooring and walls – it was so bad a contractor broke through the floor and almost fell to the basement.
Even after all of the work, we had carpenter ants that were eating the now-dried wood, and had to call exterminators twice to get rid of them.
Overall it took over $100k and several months to reno the house, and most of that was due to water issues.
Well, if the lot is a good price, knock it over and build new.
To answer the question, yes it can. If it has then I hope you dont own that property. The alternative would be someone set up a sprinkler inside.
Yup. Although you typically see this more often in vacant homes. if you catch a leak early enough, you won’t get damaged like this
Yes
Time to fix your leaky roof OP
looks like it
This is both water and neglect. If you know how to deal with 100 year old houses, go for it. If you don’t, you’re in for a wild ride that I hope you have the proper masks, deep pockets, and sanity for.
I work up on different roofs every day. It’s amazing how much damage the smallest little hole can cause. Yes, the answer is yes.