What a Pompey Owner Can Settle Before We Arrive
The person who spots the mark here is almost always the person who can go and look at the other side of it, and that is worth an hour.
Leak Diagnosis quote in Pompey
Share a few details so we can confirm coverage and arrange the right next step.
Would you rather talk it through? Call (315) 640-3590, answered 24/7.
$100 off your first job
Credited by us on your first booked job.
- One credit per customer per property, on your first booked job.
- Valid through December 31, 2026.
Mention this offer when you book. Full terms.
Why the Pompey homeowner has the first look
The Town of Pompey has 2,901 housing units of which 94.1 percent are single-family detached, the highest share of any town on this site, with 1.9 percent mobile homes, only 0.3 percent in two-unit buildings and owner occupancy of 97.1 percent, also the highest. 23.5 percent of the housing was built in 1939 or earlier and 49.8 percent in 1980 or later, with almost nothing in between.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 year structure built, B25035 median year structure built, B25024 units in structure and B25003 tenure, accessed 2026-09-14
Section R807.1 of the 2025 Residential Code of New York State requires an attic access opening where an attic with combustible ceiling or roof construction has a vertical height of 30 inches or more over an area of not less than 30 square feet, with a rough-framed opening of not less than 22 inches by 30 inches in a hallway or other readily accessible location.
Source: 2025 Residential Code of New York State, via UpCodes, accessed 2026-09-14
In the Town of Pompey the median year of construction is 1980. Of 2,901 housing units, 23.5 percent were built in 1939 or earlier, 25.7 percent before 1950, 50.2 percent before 1980 and 49.8 percent in 1980 or later. 94.1 percent are single-family detached and 97.1 percent of occupied units are owner occupied.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 year structure built, B25035 median year structure built, B25024 units in structure and B25003 tenure, accessed 2026-09-14
The half hour that shortens a Pompey leak visit
Nowhere else we cover puts the homeowner in this position so consistently. 97.1 percent of occupied homes in Pompey are owner occupied and 94.1 percent are single-family detached, both the highest figures on this site, so the attic above the stain is nearly always yours to open. Section R807.1 of the 2025 Residential Code of New York State expects there to be a way in: an access opening is required where an attic with combustible ceiling or roof construction is 30 inches or more high over an area of at least 30 square feet, rough framed at not less than 22 by 30 inches in a readily accessible place. If your house has a sizeable roof space and no hatch, nobody has ever looked at the underside of your deck.
What to photograph before anybody comes out
Four photographs will usually save a visit. The stain itself with something in shot for scale. The area of deck directly above it, taken from the hatch with a flashlight held to one side so the texture shows. The insulation around that area, because flattened dark material marks where water has been. And the eaves, looking along them to see whether the bays are clear or packed solid. Send those with the date the mark appeared and what the weather did, and a contractor can arrive with a working theory rather than starting from nothing. On 2,901 homes with that level of owner occupancy, this is a town where that actually happens.
Find out whether you have an attic hatch at all
The code expects an opening where the space is 30 inches high over 30 square feet. No hatch means nobody has ever seen the deck.
Photograph the deck above the stain
Light held to one side shows the texture and the staining. It is the single most useful image you can send us.
Look along the eaves while you are up there
Clear bays or packed insulation is a thirty second observation that changes what the likely diagnosis is.
Send us your four photographs
Stain, deck, insulation and eaves. We arrange an insured contractor who arrives with a theory rather than a blank sheet.
Other roof system work across the Town of Pompey
Leak questions from Pompey homeowners
I have no hatch anywhere. Is cutting one a big job?
It is minor work and it usually pays for itself the first time something goes wrong. A code-sized opening is 22 by 30 inches rough framed, placed in a hallway or somewhere else readily accessible, and finished with an insulated gasketed cover. After that, every future roof question in your house becomes a matter of looking rather than guessing.
Is it safe for me to go up there myself?
Only if there is proper footing and you are comfortable doing it, and plenty of attics do not have either. Standing on the joists with insulation between them is how people put a foot through a ceiling. If the access is awkward, take a photograph from the hatch opening rather than climbing in, and leave the rest to somebody with boards and a light.
Get a head start on the diagnosis
Tell us the Pompey address and what you found at the hatch. No obligation, and your own look is worth a lot.