At an inspection a while back, my buyer asked me what this pipe sticking out of the side of the garage was.
Based on the washed away area (impact mark) on the ground under the pipe, I said that it was likely a drain for the flat roof. Because the roof had sagged a bit, and was holding water, a drain had been installed in the low spot to aid in draining the roof.
One of the interesting things about ponding water on a flat roof is that water is heavy—DUH!
The weight of the water causes the roof the sag, which over time stays sagged, which means the roof can hold even more water, leading to even more ponding/sagging—–and on and on. Now the roof might not “break,” but it does affect the resilience of the roofing materials and eventually the roof will start to leak.
Once I was on the roof I could see there was a lot of standing water. I waded out into the middle of one of the puddles to unblock the drain. The drain location is right where the arrow is pointing.
The result?
When you gotta go—-you gotta go!
Is this what they mean when the listing says, “Water feature?” Or perhaps it is a “Water Peeture.”
By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle
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