What's causing that leak in my roof/ceiling?

[351 WINCHESTER]

Older lady told me that when they had their roof redone there were several 38 wadcutters embedded in the shingles. I thought that really odd - what are the chances?

It's very possible the previous owner had a n/d from inside your home.

 

[Hardtarget]

a few years ago I got to work after our July fourth days off. Walking across the parking lot I found a 9mm bullet. Weighed 95 gr. My bet was "Mak" but I'm not sure.

I know I hear plenty of shooting at New Years as well as the fourth. Hope my roof doesn't get hit...its only two years old!

Mark

 

[788Ham]

ChaoSS,

Your comment about the bullet going straight up, probably not hurt anyone. WRONG ! Here in Denver about 2 years ago, some idiot did just that, shot what he thought was straight up, about 3 blks away, some young girl was hit in the top of the head and it killed her. Cops and CBI investigated the scene, found the nutcase, he's now in prison for murder! Don't kid yourself about the bullet not hurting anyone.

JustinJ, you're totally wrong there, read the story above this line, you couldn't be further from the truth!

 

[leadcounsel]

It's very possible the previous owner had a n/d from inside your home.

Hmmm. I had not considered this.

The hole is above the top floor bathroom. While unlikely, it is conceivable that there was an ND by someone fiddling with a gun sitting on the toilet going up at the proper angle.

It's not clear that the ceiling was patched, but I didn't look too carefully and it's all been repainted by the bank before I purchased...

This is an interesting possibility. I'd give it a fair chance that this is what happened. ND in the bathroom goes up through the ceiling and roof. Renters patch the ceiling to hide the ND and no patch done to the roof.

 

[Twiki357]

When I lived in Los Angeles, Every January 1st and July 5th I would make a trip onto my roof with a can of Wet Patch to plug any holes in the shingles. I used to get at least 1 or 2 bullets a year stuck in the top layer of shingles. About the time that I moved to AZ, LA was installing the sonic detectors that, supposedly, could zero in on a firearm discharge. I don't know if it really worked, but there were a lot fewer shots heard after it hit the news.

Here in Arizona, there's a law making it (I think) a felony to fire into the air. The law was passed back in 2000 or 2001 after a little girl was killed in her backyard by a falling bullet.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Under the old city code, projectiles (bullets, arrows, rocks, etc.) crossing a property line or public road is an offense. Any discharge of a firearm reported to police in the city will need an explanation and it better be a case of necessity. So in my home town celebratory gunfire is unheard of.

I would be surprised if a bullet lobbed up a mile away would still be stabilized

Long range shots are made without showing keyholing at ranges up to a mile (right velocity and rate of spin). On the other hand, I had keyholing from .308" bullets in a .312" bore at 25 yards (wrong velocity, wrong spin).

So at a mile, bullets may be stabilized or keyholing depending on variables.

Meteor strike..

Middlesboro KY sits in a four mile wide meteor crater about 350 million years old. I have also heard tales of a housewife in Kentucky who was hit in her kitchen by meterorite (much smaller) in the early 1800s but conformation has eluded me; sounds like something out of Charles Fort's "Book of the Damned".

 

[ChaoSS]

788Ham, do you have a news article about that?

 

[leadcounsel]

For those who don't believe bullets are lethal if shot in the air, an Amish girl in PA was killed while riding in a horsedrawn buggy, from a bullet fired 1.5 miles away when the negligent gun handler thought the rifle was empty and pulled the trigger. Now, what a bad strain of coincidences that this would happen in a rural area.... incredibly stupid decision, and extremely bad luck, but it does happen. An instant in time, before or after, (he pulls the trigger an instant sooner or later, or she leaves on her trip sooner or later, etc. - and this is a non-event). Just shows that firing a gun in the air is plain stupid. Always know your backstop.

http://www.grizzlygary.com/archive/index.php/t-14111.html

 

[Njal Thorgeirsson]

Terminal velocity...

Hello,

I just thought I'd add that terminal velocity for a 180 grain .30 caliber bullet is at least 350 feet/second (considerably more with a low-drag bullet). Fired at an angle, I think it would probably be over 500 feet per second, although that's just a guess. I think that could potentially penetrate a shingle and a piece of plywood.

I used the following calculator (D for bullets is >.295):
http://www.calctool.org/CALC/eng/aerospace/terminal

 

[Claude Clay]

wethersfield ct in 1982 and a year later and a mile distant another meteorite fell . one punched through a parked cars trunk coming to rest on the pavement and the other through a roof, bounced around inside the home and 'banged' against the homeowner watching tv.

perhaps yours was a bullet from the outer limits

add this to weird http://news.yale.edu/2013/05/10/peabody-expert-confirms-second-meteorite-fall-connecticut

 

[788Ham]

ChaoSS,

Not sitting in front of me no. It was on the local news for about a week, in The Denver Post also for about that same period of time. Regardless, pretty stupid thing to do !

 

[Jim K]

Hi, Leadcounsel,

I am not sure I understood correctly. Some posters have assumed you got up on the roof, but your post sounds like you only got into the attic.

If that is the case and if you tried to patch that hole from the inside, you may still have a problem. You can probably stop the heavy leak, but rain can still get into the hole in the shingle/roofing, seep down under it and rot the wood or plywood underneath.

Someone will need to get up on the roof, check the damage and then seal the hole from the outside and maybe replace some shingles. I strongly recommend a professional; I did roof work when I was young and stupid, but now my joints creak and heights are scary!

Jim

 

[leadcounsel]

Jim asked:

I am not sure I understood correctly. Some posters have assumed you got up on the roof, but your post sounds like you only got into the attic.

I said in my original post:

then used the liquid roofing tar to fill the hole and then adhere a piece of roofing paper to the exterior of the hole. Then a nice smooth liberal coating of roofing tar over the paper. Should work for a decade or so, until a new roof is needed.

You did read my post, AND see my pictures of the exterior hole, right...??

 

[csspecs]

That looks like a lag screw hole more then a bullet hole. Probably 5/16".

Someone had a dish on the roof and took it with them. They probably filled the holes with some silicone or dark caulking and left it at that.
Find out which side of the house you would mount a dish on and I'll bet its the same side as your hole.

Had a bullet gone through it downward it would have taken some drywall with it.

 

[leadcounsel]

Someone had a dish on the roof and took it with them. They probably filled the holes with some silicone or dark caulking and left it at that.

Dish mounts have multiple mounting points/screws. Not a single screw. No other evidence of holes for other screws, like in a pattern or otherwise.

No evidence of any cable either. In my experience, there are staples and left over cables from the prior Dish installs and removals.

Finally, nobody takes their dishes with them. They are of no real value, and companies give them away to customers to encourage them to leave their old ones...