Garage leak

Oh boy, I've been through the ringer with this one. Our house had multiple leaks. Massive amounts of $$$ spent. Here's what I learned. Your house is leaking because the builder failed to follow code, or failed to put in enough protection against water intrusion, or some of that protection failed. Wind driven rain will find a way in eventually. Puddles will also intrude eventually.

We redid the flashing. We put in new gutters. We replaced soaked drywall. We rebuilt a brick wall, twice. We tuckpointed. We re-stuccoed the chimney. On and on for years.

It is impossible to figure out what's happening without digging into the part of the house that is leaking. It is challenging to figure out where the leak is coming from, unless you catch it in the act of leaking. It is also difficult to catch it in the act of leaking without taking it apart first. Water can travel a long way.

You will need a handyperson or carpenter to investigate. They might be able to trace the leak by looking at old water damage. From my experience, each person who looks at the leak will draw a different conclusion. Ultimately you will have to rebuild the part of your house that is leaking with more flashing, better water barrier, a new gutter, proper air gap for drainage, etc. Not sure if this applies to your roof, but re-caulking every year or two can be very helpful for preventing leaks.

Honestly, it is not super suprising that a new house is leaking. Houses are complicated and imperfect, especially the details that tend to let water through. A small code error can lead to a big problem. Do you have a warranty? I would start with the builder.

Adam's advice is spot on and I just had my still newish 12 year roof stripped and redone as expensive and as painful as it was, but the leaks were impossible to fix. In my case, I could go up into my attic, above the insulation and see the wet streaks drip, drip, dripping, and yet nothing I did to the suspected source area worked. I'm very handy and it really stumped me. BTW I used Allied Roofing Installation Services., They were excellent. The proprietor's name is Eliseo. freshchalk.com/allied-roofi...