The “roof is failing” sensor in a house is typically a homeowner noticing a stain on a ceiling.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to put down sensor tape on the plywood roof deck before the peel-and-stick material, shingles, tiles, or whatever are applied? If there is a leak in the roofing system or flashing and water gets down to the wood layer there can be a notification of exactly where the leak is happening.
Even if mass-produced by our brothers, sisters, and binary-resisters in Asia this wouldn’t be cheap, but I still think it would make economic sense given the cost of a roof ($15,000-$150,000) and the cost of repairing water damage in a society where the average skill level falls each year.
It’s an obvious idea so why hasn’t it been done?
Related:
- patent filed in 2007
- patent filed in 2021 (maybe with a vision of commercial buildings?):
Surprised we made it through an entire installment of Israel vs Iran with no blog post about it. Typical day in the middle eastspun.
A fight between Israel and Iran would be a dog bites man story (if Muslims were permitted to keep pet dogs). I have to say that I am surprised at how effective Israel has been operating at long range.
But, but, things have changed more than they usually do:
https://archive.is/zDGBV
It appears the U.S. is now getting involved as well [1]. And, as always, when major conflicts arise in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia comes out the winner — without firing a single shot!
[1] https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump/we-now-have-complete-and-total-control-trump-confirms-us-is-part-of-attack-on-iran/
GA: My understanding is that SA benefits because its relative economy becomes better in the ME whenever the other nations fight. Also, since the States is the largest exporter of weapons (~43%), it benefits from wars anywhere most of the time, and since SA’s economy is tied with the States’ it indirectly benefits. Is there any other angle you assumed in your comment?
@PhilG Fan, the U.S. doesn’t actually profit much from arms sales.
In 2024, U.S. arms exports totaled around $318 billion. When you compare that to over $3 trillion in other exports, it’s clear that arms make up a relatively small share. On top of that, the U.S. spends roughly $55 billion annually maintaining its global military presence overseas to police the world, and spends $765 billion in-house.
Consider also the more than $21 billion in military aid sent to Ukraine, over $17 billion to Israel, and several additional billions to other allied nations. When you factor in these outflows, the $318 billion in arms exports starts to look less like profit and more like a net loss.
By the way, I did my best to research and verify these figures, and they all represent annual numbers.
It is obvious and reasonable. Builders are not engineers, and I sense that they are very traditional, very sensitive to initial costs, and utterly unconcerned with longevity and maintainability, which are someone else’s problem.
I suspect that they would only do something like that if required by law / code.
I think the ultimate simple example of this lack of care for future expenses is the annoying American habit of using concealed shower valves instead of the exposed shower valves that seem to be the standard in Europe.
https://www.tapwarehouse.com/c/showers/shower-valves-controls/exposed-shower-valves
With exposed shower valves, there will be no need to break any tile or other wall material to replace the shower valve, and it is an easy and quick DIY job when the shower valve ultimately fails.
Hear hear. I just spent $1700 having my shower valve replaced.
Concealed shower valves are used in higher endish bathrooms in European countries too. FWIW, I did DIY replace a stop valve head in such a bathroom, it was possible because the decorative cover hid a large hole in the tile through which the valve could be accessed.
I once read a book (Memories of silk and straw — I think) where a Japanese roofer was saying roofs always leaked until a fungal mat, totally waterproof, would form under the tiles. Being a pre-industrial builder he did not have any idea why such mat formed, what was actually forming the mat, and any possible drawbacks, but apparently the biofilm did what you want Phil, but better, since it was and kept waterproof and likely self healing.
The short answer why this isn’t done is because it’s cheaper not to do it, new home buyers don’t value it.
Plus I am pretty sure it would would short itself out before you needed it. It’s hot (and sometimes wet) up there.
Probably because it would go off almost immediately and mostly be ignored.
All roofs leak a little. That’s why there’s supposed to be airflow in the attic to allow for the moisture to come out faster than it comes in.. A new roof is probably usually slightly damaged during installation, and any holes in it for nails, vents, wires, solar panel brackets, etc. also have the potential to let in a little water. The last thing the installer wants is a call from a guy like you telling him the little warning light for his roof went off. (Especially during the warranty)