Why is There Ponding Water on My Flat Roof?

Do you have ponding water on your flat roof? You might assume that it shouldn’t be there and needs to be dealt with. While that’s true, you could have multiple other questions about it.

Perhaps the most notable is how the ponding water on a flat roof got there and why it stayed. While rainwater will be the most obvious answer to this, it could be more complicated than that.

Flat roofs are notorious for suffering from such an issue. That’s primarily because of the flat roof drainage; it isn’t as effective as you’d see with other options.

If you’re worried about the situation, then there are a few things that you’ll need to keep in mind.

Ponding Water On Flat Roof: Common Causes for Standing Water

Ponding water is when water gathers on your roof and refuses to drain. If it stays there for longer than 24 to 48 hours, then it should be considered a problem.

These are likely to happen on flat roofs, as there isn’t typically a slant to let the water drain off. As such, a high-quality flat roof drainage system is needed.

An improperly installed system can be one of the more notable causes of the issue. There are several others, however, such as:

• Drainage Issues: Over time, even a properly installed drainage system can get clogged or backed up. That could lead to water ponding on your roof.
• Compressed Insulation: If you’ve walked on your flat roof, you may have damaged it by compressing the insulation. That could lead to a slight low point in the roof, where water can collect.

How To Address It

If you have ponding water on a flat roof, you’ll need to address it before it causes more of a problem. Doing so is relatively simple, although it’s worth hiring a professional to do so properly.

If you’re doing it yourself, you’ll first need to drain the water itself, which should be relatively simple. Then comes diagnosing what’s causing the problem.

That’s where things could get tricky, as you’ll need to put work into addressing most of these problems. Compressed insulation, for example, will mean needing to even out the roof.

A clogged drainage system, however, may be easier to fix, as you’ll simply need to find the clog and remove it. It’ll still take you quite some time to do, though.

Ponding Water On Flat Roof: Wrapping Up

Ponding water on a flat roof could be an indication of several problems. If you’ve noticed this on your roof, then you’ll need to take care of the situation as quickly as possible.

There are multiple ways of doing so, many of which shouldn’t take too much time or effort. As attractive as flat roofs can be, they can often need much more maintenance than their more-traditional counterparts.

Ponding water is one of the more notable things to be on the lookout for. Your flat roof drainage system should be designed to prevent the problem from occurring.

If it still happens, though, the above tips and tricks should be helpful.