Roof Leak Around Chimney - DIY Chatroom

robertr4836 · 03-10-2008, 10:53 AM

Hi! We bought a 14yr old house in December and the inspector pointed out missing shingles over the "ridge vent" (not sure if that's the right term...it's the vent opening at the peak of the roof) and poor flashing around the chimney.

The chimney is near the center of the roof just a few inches from the peak. The inspector said that the shingles next to the chimney came loose because the chimney is too close to the ridge vent (leaving nothing to nail the shingles too along the chimney side) and that the roofer should have discontinued the vent and made the peak solid around the chimney area.

From inside the attic I can see daylight through the section of ridge vent near the chimney and between the flashing and chimney along two sides of the chimney. During the last rain I went up and saw water coming in through the open section of ridge vent and running along the inside of the roof to the front of the house (so I guess the water damage over the front door is from this rather than from an ice dam) and running down the outside of the chimney on the two sides where I saw daylight.

This is my first home and I would like to repair this myself if possible. Is this something I could do or should I call in a professional?

I went to Home Depot this weekend and there are a lot of roofing items (roof cement, roof tar, roof fabric, flashing sealant, ridge vent shingles, etc.).

I'm thinking, use the cement and nails to attach new shingles over the open section of vent, use the flashing sealant around the flashing and then cover the whole thing with roof tar but I'm guessing since I really have no idea what I'm doing (ready, willing but woefully uninformed, that's me).

Any advice would be appreciated...regardless of whether I do this myself or hire a contractor I'm planning on waiting for some warm dry weather.

Thanks,

Robert

tinner666 · 03-10-2008, 10:08 PM

All the junk you saw at HD serves one purpose, and one purpose only. The make the manufacturer money. They do nothing to help roof leaks.

If you don't know hot to step flash, term flash and counterflash a chimney, you need a pro roofer.

Fact of the matter is, 14 year old roof, and shingles blowing off? You need another roof. 10-14 years is the life expectancy of a 20 year shingle. Sorry.

robertr4836 · 03-11-2008, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinner666

All the junk you saw at HD serves one purpose, and one purpose only. The make the manufacturer money. They do nothing to help roof leaks.

If you don't know hot to step flash, term flash and counterflash a chimney, you need a pro roofer.

Fact of the matter is, 14 year old roof, and shingles blowing off? You need another roof. 10-14 years is the life expectancy of a 20 year shingle. Sorry.

I work for a sheet metal shop and one of our main products is flashable curbs and rails for roof mounted HVAC equipment. My problem is that I'm an engineer, I design a lot of this stuff but I have never installed it!

The roof pitch is very steep and my fiance convinced me to bring in a pro (she doesn't want me to break my neck!).

30 year roof in excellent shape other than five or six shingles on the peak next to the chimney that were never attached properly in the first place.

Thanks for the advice RE the HD crap!

Big Bob · 03-11-2008, 01:23 PM

very smart to let the roofer do the steep work.

while he is there ask him to tune the roof...look for nail pops... check flashing... if neoprene spray some armor all.. also roofers sometimes put 20 yr (thinner shingle) on for ridge cap.. have him report on overall condition.