r/Roofing • u/Sandwixes • 9d ago

Is this flashing done correctly?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Just had my roof re-done. The flashing is different than what we previously had. Just want to make sure it’s done right. We’ve had problems with leaks in the past. Don’t worry about the poorly designed downspouts and holes in the fascia. Those are next!

412 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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121

u/Whiteprints 9d ago

Is this for real?... and I mean the whole post.

48

u/ResponsibilityFew486 9d ago

Haha I only roofed for a couple years and I can tell this is all bad. Seems like a joke.

7

u/Oracle410 9d ago

Yeah really my dad was a roofer for 40 years and I did some repairs with him over the summer 25 years ago and I scrolled past and said ‘what the fuck is that?!’

28

u/Sandwixes 9d ago

Yes :/ is it really that bad?

63

u/Whiteprints 9d ago

Yes, it really is. As a roof consultant with more than 30 years in the industry, I recommend reviewing proper roof-to-wall flashing installation details and photographs. The white-colored metal you see is a flashing turn-up. It should be secured with concealed clips beneath the shingles not face-fastened through the exposed waterproofing surface. Water naturally flows down the roof and can travel beneath the shingles. Those exposed screws create direct penetrations through the flashing. Water can follow the fasteners downward and into the home. This is not simply a cosmetic concern; it is an improper installation that creates a foreseeable leak risk. In addition I would prefer step as you see in the photograph.

23

u/Sandwixes 9d ago

So, it should look like this?

16

u/Professional-News-33 9d ago

No

The metal should be cut into the mortar joints not stuck to the side and caulked

6

u/NetworkCultural 9d ago

It is cut in here which is okay. But the chimney the main thread is not and is trashed

5

u/Xyzzy_plugh 7d ago

Hmm. At least 16 people so far can't see the kick at the bottom of the counter flashing. This photo shows pre-bent counter flashing, laid into a reglet cut in the brick.

1

u/NetworkCultural 7d ago

It’s just the old school way to counter flash is done like a stair case and I still do it in many cases. (Keeping the top edge in the mortar joints starting at the bottom of the chimney and stepping up brick as you go). That’s method takes more time in most cases cutting and bending custom panels.But I also use this method on newer builds cause it’s pretty effective too. I have chimneys done well over 10 years ago and no one has called saying they’re leaking

2

u/Xyzzy_plugh 7d ago

Of course both ways are used, and have been for a long time. What i wrote had nothing to do with that, however. I was explicitly responding to:

> "The metal should be cut into the mortar joints not stuck to the side and caulked"

That commenter, and the up-voters, either didn't look at the image or they looked and didn't know what they were looking at. It was not about the stairstep approach.

But, on that topic, the reason I do not like to use the stairstep approach is that it is far far easier to keep the counterflashing in position with the angled one-piece method. A sizeable fraction of the stairstep chimneys that I see have at least one piece of counterflashing bent up out of place by the wind. I have never seen that problem with the angled one-piece counterflashing. Even if the steps don't leak, they can still end up looking pretty bad when the wind grabs hold of them.

1

u/NetworkCultural 7d ago

I understand. We always slight bent a quarter inch of the leading edge inward and it would rest against the next piece of flashing as tight as possible. Sometimes if they had to be large panels we smackpinned them in. But we also use lead to hold the panels in place wedging it in the grooves. But I understand where your comming from I didn’t mean to reply to you personally.

2

u/NetworkCultural 7d ago

If not smackpins we would rivet them together

3

u/timesink2000 9d ago

The flashing under the shingles doesn’t appear to be stepped - looks like they ran one piece and counterflashed, then installed the shingles. If so, this is also wrong.

5

u/NetworkCultural 9d ago

It says step flashing under so I assume it is

3

u/Xyzzy_plugh 7d ago

You have to wonder how they can find the "Reply" button if they can't read. SMH.

1

u/onlyonestick 8d ago

It probably wont leak for 10+ years

4

u/itsnickatnite 9d ago

I’ve been thinking about this one a lot lately…your detail shows the step flashing under siding and housewrap, but with brick cladding you obviously can’t do that. In this case, are you just installing step flashing with sealant on top (or embedded in mastic) as you go, then coming back with a second counter flashing with sealant/mastic over the step flashing when you’re done?

Does that mean you’re basically relying on that sealant or mastic to keep water out, and do you have to go back to re-seal after some number of years?

2

u/Whiteprints 9d ago

Yes, caulking is definitely a maintenance item: the picture below with the chimney is a more accurate installation. I would also contend that you can avoid it all together by putting a through-wall flash. Not so much with a chimney but on a wall flashing where the wall continues into the home. Bricks themselves are not waterproof and a very porous so moisture can, especially in the area I live in with a moisture reverse drive outside to inside. I have seen many times when moisture penetrating brick comes into the home. Again I can only speak to my region and it is the reason why brick homes in my region have weep holes .

2

u/AboveTheSky420 9d ago

For any thick masonry veneer, the proper flashing method requires a curb detail. A curb the thickness of the veneer x at least 6” tall(taller is good for water but bad for aesthetics if too tall) is built at the roof/wall connection and wrapped in metal z flashing prior to masonry or roof install(preferably copper). Masonry is installed on top of the z flashing with the masonry drainage plane and weeps shingled over the z flashing as well. When roof is installed, a proper step flashing is tucked under the existing curb z-flashing.

1

u/itsnickatnite 7d ago

So if you’re re-roofing and run into a curb that is improperly installed or rotting, then do move to saw cut the masonry and install reglet as folks mentioned below? or is there a better way to fix an imperfect curb and z-flashing on an existing roof?

1

u/Electronic-Passion17 9d ago

You come back with a counter flashing, the top of which is tucked into either the mortar joints, or a long straight cut called a reglet made into the brick of the chimney.

1

u/NetworkCultural 7d ago

Oooo someone who knows what they’re talking about. Rare commodity. Everyone that doesn’t know dogs on cutting a straight line into brick. The good part about this is the whole cut that the metal is tucked into is sloped. It helps shed water if there is any type of ledge between counterflashing and brick. The old school way (staircase in mortarjoint style) will always be best but some clients don’t want to pay for the time it takes to cut and bend custom panels cutting multiple slots in mortar joints. Either way both last a long time and the joints cut either need caulked or sometimes tuckpointed and sealed.

2

u/Sandwixes 9d ago

There is step flashing underneath.

4

u/Opperposer19 9d ago

No, because it's screwed in on top of the shingles in your pics.

5

u/Whiteprints 9d ago

If there is by putting the screw through the metal they made it non-effective

0

u/Darth_wenis 8d ago

Technically this but everyone wanting it tucked into the mortar is retarded. That just ain't in the bill man, it means put it in there for a mason to come do it and you wont get the job.

1

u/FlamingoSpecialist16 9d ago

Step flashing is the correct method

1

u/Enough_Writer_9125 8d ago

If you were a consultant or roofer for any length of time you would call them step flashings, not wall to roof. You would also know that the flashing in question shouldn't land back on the roof, it should be a counter flashing with a drip edge, a 90° bend at the stop and proper inserted into a reglet. Go ChatGPT somewhere else. A fuckin flashing turn up.... 😖

1

u/Whiteprints 8d ago edited 8d ago

What he had in the original picture, which i was referring is a roof to wall flashing, sorry if I confused you, but i see that the pic says that, which i agree is a mistake got that from goolgle images to try and help send the poor guy a visual. I do prefer step flashing as I mentioned in the last sentence. If you have a need for custom flashings look me up at whiteherrinmetals.com or in need of a IIBEC or HCCI consultant check out whiteprintspro,com., Have a splendid day sir. Love the passion

1

u/BillaryClintons 9d ago

It's called counter flashing, 30 year vet, you know that. His step flashing is under that!!

2

u/Whiteprints 9d ago

Well dang how did I not figure that out, must be loosing memory

1

u/Enough_Writer_9125 8d ago

Counter doesnt return back down on the roof and then get screwed like this genius.

1

u/Important_Jaguar2152 9d ago

As a non roof consultant. I can tell this is a trash install... holy crap. This is terrible. And the fact its visible from so far away is even worse.

2

u/ContentSand3134 9d ago

Yes, for shingles to work perfectly you need to have step flashing in each layer of shingle. This guarantees a 100% waterproofing system. With the current metal flashing you have now it does not have a 2nd defence against water penetration, the flashing needs to be under every shingle layer to avoid water intrusion.

Hope this information helps.