Roof leak diagnosis in Manlius, NY: a ceiling stain and no obvious hole in the roof

The Town of Manlius holds two villages, Manlius and Fayetteville. Their housing differs. In the Village of Manlius, half the housing dates from 1968 or earlier. In the town as a whole, the halfway point is 1972.

That gap is small, but the mix behind it is not. A village address is more likely to sit in a house from 1950 to 1979, or in a two-unit building. A town address can just as easily be a house built after 1980. The contractor's first questions differ for each.

So write your address type on the form. It is one line, and it changes where the visit starts.

In the town, 8.8 percent of housing is attached single-family homes. Where a roof meets a neighbor's at a wall, the stain on your side may start at the joint between the two. Ask the contractor which roof owns that joint before any work is discussed.

Go and look at the wall from outside. Is there metal stepping up it where the roofs meet? If siding covers the line, say so. Read flashing repair in Manlius for the questions that go with it.

If instead the stain grew after a cold, dry night, the attic is the likelier source. The guide to finding a roof leak in winter explains why.

Contractors can find the way in sooner when you hand them a short record. Keep it simple.

• A photo each time the stain changes, with the weather noted.
• The weather on each day: rain, thaw, or clear and cold.
• Any patch done before, with the date if you have it.
• The room above and what sits over it: attic, garage, porch roof.

After the visit you hold a proposal in writing for what the contractor would do. It sets out the repair and the cause behind it, so the stain has less reason to return. The price is theirs to name and the go-ahead is yours.