CBD's Chimney Flashing Photopage

General Information about Roof Flashing

Below are a few examples of masonry work & chimney flashing we have done

The Problems With Most Flashing:
Sadly ethical responsibility seems to be a thing of the past. Improper roof flashing with the use of cheap steel, which most roofers use is clearly the #1 cause of roof failure, and chimney flashing is the most neglected area of the roof. Worse yet is the fact that many homeowners have been scammed into fully re-roofing their house because of these leaks, instead of just replacing that flashing. These fancy talking salesman are much more motivated to sell you a whole re-roofing to unsuspecting Homeowners to make that big ticket sale. And even worse is how they again will do this new work without the benefit of using better materials like aluminum or copper sheet metal flashing.

Most of roof flashing can be replaced without re-roofing the whole house, but of course that is far less profitable for a roofing contractor, so that is rarely offered as an option for your consideration. These roofers know better, but they still do the same kind of roofing with this cheap steel flashing that they just tore off of your house, that they know will fail in short order. It is said this is the definition of insanity.

If that were not bad enough, in most cases the roofing contractor's workers will still not re-flash those problem areas the right way, if at all, and the Homeowner get cheated yet again. Instead of flashing they will use the cheapest caulking (called mastic) smeared around those problem areas. Mastic is just fibered tar with no UV protection. This will usually get the roof past their minimum required 1 year warranty the Construction Contractors Boards require of any contractor, but not much more. This mastic tar will become brittle and crack, and peal away within a few years. If it were to be inspected by a State Code Enforcement Inspector, it would not be approved. They are not to use mastic anywhere on a roof. That is a clear sign it was not properly flashed. Mastic is a very messy emergency patch to pacify the leak until a proper fix can be made.

We know this to be an intentional crime of roofing contractors, since pretty much any roofer knows very well how common these issues are to find when doing a tear-off of an old roof; i.e. very rusty steel flashing on the roof. When they tear into a bad roof for replacement, it tells a story of why this roof failed. They would have to be complete morons to not see the evidence in front of them. Yet, they continue to ignore this evidence and continue do shoddy work, since in most cases they are not required to file for a building permit to replace your roof, and therefore do not have to worry about an inspector double checking their work.

Our Roofing web page at: http://dmr-gutters.com/fs/roofs.htm goes into more detail about this terrible issue. So don't leave without reading it over, so you can save yourself a great deal of anguish down the road.

Over the last several decades so many roofing contractors with this cheap criminal mentality would not spend a few extra dollars on aluminum flashing, so the suppliers do not stock it any more. It can be special ordered from a fabrication shop like ours, but of course that makes it just that much more expensive than mass produced supplies.

Solution:
I originally built a sheet metal shop in my basement to custom fabricate my own custom flashing and paid the 5X cost for actual roofing liability insurance for several years, but with no employees I could not do the volume of work to afford it. Over the last decade it grew and evolve to building many different custom copper rain management products that can be seen on our web site here. We moved 5 times since then and the shop space increased to a separate 24' X 42' shop with overhead storage now days.

I use to be very intimidated by the cost of copper, so I used aluminum, knowing it is a lot better than the steel that is normally used, but I stopped using aluminum all together several years ago. The difference between using a cheaper metal is not that much considering the cost of the whole project, so it is not worth it to use a cheaper metal with all the work it takes to do this the right way. If done with copper you should not need to redo it again the next time it is re-roofed, or the next several times. Aluminum would last several decades, but the paint would flake off over time and begin to look bad, so it is not as reusable as copper. It would also crack more easily if the brutal roofer felt he had to bend it up to fit the step-flashing in under it as he re-roofs. Copper is much more malleable. Another advantage is how it will retard the growth of mildew and moss on the roofing below it.

There needs to be this 2 part flashing: the step-flashing is integrated with the roofing and sets up flush against the side of the chimney. Then the counter-flashing is mortared in between the bricks in horizontal lines only and overlapping the step-flashing. This 2 part system allows for the movement that is caused with the expansion and contraction of these 2 very different types of structures, while maintaining this seal. Of course the bricks will expand with temperature changes differently than the wood structure of the house. Even 1/4" movement would be enough to rip open any other method used to seal the chimney to the roofing. This is not a new method by any stretch. It is a time tested technique used for centuries, and I have yet to see a better technique for this purpose.

Even high quality caulk should never be used to attach this counter-flashing, since it is just rubbery and adds no structural strength to the compromised chimney. As with the useless effort of tuck-pointing a chimney to make the mortar grooves look nice again; the new mortar in such a shallow groove has only the old crumbling mortar to stick to, so it will simply fall out within a few years. The groove needs to be deep enough for the new mortar has the top and bottom brick to adhere to. Anything short of that is a waste of time and money. These groves need to be ground a lot deeper than just 1/2". They need to be at least 1.5" to 2" deep and only filled back in with mortar.

What If I Already Have This Kind Of Shoddy Workmanship On My House?
If you are are a victim of this unethical business practice; you can show the contractor this web site. Then you should be able to deduct the cost of repairing your chimney and it's flashing even if you are going to do it yourself, plus the cost of cleaning off that black tar. I would encourage you to insist he has that tar removed and cleaned off as if it was never there by his workers. It is messy work and solvents on the roofing will damage the shingles and cause a terrible staining mess. If the contractor does it; he can then replace the damaged and stained shingles at the same time.

In the rare cases roofers do attempt to flash a chimney; in most cases a roofer will grind a diagonal grove into the side of the chimney right through the bricks and mortar to press the flashing into and caulk, instead of following the horizontal mortar lines and mortaring the new flashing in. This is a terrible way to counter-flash the chimney, because it sets up the bricks to fracture right there in an Earthquake, causing tons of bricks to be sent tumbling down off the roof destroying anything in their path. With this type of flashing work the bricks are damaged beyond repair. The only solution is to have the chimney carefully dismantled down to the roof line and rebuilt with new bricks. Do not let them talk you into any other alternative, trying to minimize the damage. They will try to discredit me and say I do not know what I am talking about, but it is simple logic they will not be able to BS their way out of it if you stand your ground. Roofers will claim that it can only be done this way when the chimney was first built by the brick mason, but I prove here that is simply not true.

Below are examples of jobs we have worked on that show the shoddy practices that we had worked to repair.

Click on the thumbnails for a larger better view

Solid 20oz Copper Sheet Metal Chimney Step & Counter-Flashing
(Click on each image to get a closer look)

Here is a step-by-step chimney re-flashing job I was hired to do in April of 2004 for a client Named Toni Ferro, who has this rental in S. E. Portland, Oregon at 3953 S. E. Grant Street.

When I was replacing the gutters on the house, I noticed that the two chimneys were not flashed correctly and might be leaking into the house. The caulk they used to try and seal the flashing to the chimney was so old it was peeling off and cracking. So we took a few digital photos of the chimney flashing to send to the owner through e-mail to advise her of this problem and go over different options.

Besides the failing caulk you can see here the rusty flashing, but the serious problem is the missing counter-flashing. She saw the wisdom of re-flashing it as soon as possible and mailed us the half down deposit to schedule this in as well.

I had to wait for clear weather and when I was not in the middle of another project, since the roofing needs to be torn up for a time to rip out the old rusty steel flashing. Here it is as we are scraping off the old tar.

These photos clearly show the old steel step-flashing removed and the counter-flashing cut off. Part of the counter-flashing is still in the mortar joints and needs to be removed, so it does not interfere with the new flashing.

The second photo shows the grooves for the counter flashing are ground-out in between the mortal joints in preparation for the new copper counter flashing. We use a worm drive 7.25" saw, with the flat work plate removed, so we can get in tight to the roof with our cuts into the chimney mortar. The cut needs to be about 2" deep enough to remove the old rusty flashing out of the chimney. Most bricks seem to be 4" wide, so that leaves at least half of the old mortar to continue to support the weight of the bricks above these cuts.

Here it is from the other side. As you can see it makes a huge mess. We have to wear a filtered face mask and safety goggles to do this part of the work. With all the mortar dust in my hair afterwards it is not possible to run a comb through it (ick).

Here is the 20oz solid copper sheet metal step-flashing in place, nailed down with 2" copper nails hidden under the shingles. It is also caulked in the corners and the copper is folded over on the corners to also shield the caulk fro the sun.

Here is shots showing the counter-flashing custom shaped and set into place just before it is mortared in. The light green foam cushion you see in the back ground is to sit on while I work. It is not that I am so spoiled that I need this comfort. It is because it protects the roofing shingles, especially on hot days from my work boots chafing the shingles. It also is a safety issue, as it make me a lot more stable on the roof. Another added benefit is it keeps me from wearing holes in my work clothes so fast. Shingles are very abrasive

Here is the counter-flashing mortared into the gaps we cut in the side of the chimney. I first shove the mortar into the joints with mason tools starting with the bottom sections working my way up. I can only do one grove at a time, shoving the flashing into the mortar before it sets. The top and bottom joints are especially hard to do swift enough before the mortar gets too stiff.

This is the chimney from the back side. It is important that there is this two part flashing, since the chimney is founded in the floor of the basement, and it will be expanding and contracting differently than the wood structure of the house.

The worm drive saw seen in the roof valley to the right is what I use to grind out the mortar joints. The base has been removed to be able to get in close the the roofing. Side motor saws will work fine on one side, but the motor would be in the way on the other side. The grinder tools they sell do not have a larger enough blade to get in deep enough to work out right.

The shingles are wet from hosing down the mess. A plastic and a wire brush with hydrochloric acid can be used to clean up left-over mortar smears to leave a nice clean job. The acid will need to be diluted, or it will be too caustic to use. One part to ten parts water is plenty strong still. It is also helpful to clean the mortar off of the shingles. Be sure to use protective gloves.

The cost was $350 to re-counter-flash a single flue chimney like this. It is another $175 to re-step-flash the roofing around the chimney, for a total cost of $525 parts and labor.

It is sad state of affairs, but it seems few experienced roofing contractors know how to do this right, or are willing to. The basic logic of rain management seems to escape them. Even when they have an example there in front of them to see how it is to be done. Most roofers will claim that it can only be done that way when the chimney was first built, but as you see I prove here that is not true at all.

You would do well to compel your local roofing contractor to read over these web pages and learn their craft. They may take offense to this suggestion, and especially this web page, but the overwhelming evidence shows this is the fact of our reality.

Another Copper Chimney Flashing & Diverter Job
on the pair of chimneys I did several years back

The picture below exhibits the way most roofing contractors deal with chimney flashing,

Instead of re-flashing the chimney like it was done originally, they smeared some cheap goo around the part that meets with the roofing shingles, even though it is not approved by building code or inspectors.

It is called mastic. It is the cheapest of caulks, since it costs around $5 a gallon. The cause of this problem is that most re-roofing projects are not required to file for a building permit and therefore called on for inspection, since they are not making changes to the structure that can be taxed.

This chimney was not re- flashed the last couple times it was re-roofed. In fact, it was not re-flashed since the house was first built some 80 years ago. This is far too common.

To put this in perspective, the caulk we use to seal gutters costs 16 times the price of this mastic garbage. Mastic is well known to dry out and crack within just a few years. The old rusty flashing you see at the bottom right had come out of the mortar joint. The mortar was so crumbly that the bottom counter-flashing fell out while they tried to seal it, so they bent it down over the new roofing and nailed it down. Then they just spread the mastic over the gap. At the top left it shows the rusty counter-flashing they left and worked to cover up with more mastic.

The chimney of this 3 story house with a basement will expand and contract differently than the wood structure. It needs to have a 2 part step-flashing/counter-flashing, so it can move in relationship to each other and still maintain the seal. This chimney did not even have it's old counter-flashing left to rely on, since it had rusted through. As you can see here, it has started to crack from the wear and tear of the sun and elements, as well as the movement of the expansion and contraction.

Upon inspection we found 2 layers of wood shake roofing under the shingles, and the last roofers had removed one layer of composite roofing to be able to legally re-roof. He had just re-roofed right over the wood shakes all over again. These old cedar roofing shakes were very brittle. They are as easy to snap across the grain as balsa wood, and they break with grain even easier. The roofing nails or staples have very little to grip, where plywood has alternating grain with each ply. Plywood will grip the nails 4 times tighter. The flashing under all of this was so rusty, it could not hold out the rain, and the mastic had separated. Here we have removed all the old mastic and rusty flashing, along with any damaged shingles

Here is the copper stepflashing in place. One piece of flashing for each row of shingles. We usually would use a clay red painted aluminum flashing, but this house has built-in copper gutters, so we decided it was best to use copper flashing on this roof. The new copper stepflashing is nailed with copper nails under the shingles, and then has a 90 degree bend to go up against the side of the chimney.

The copper counter-flashing is then mortared into the old horizontal mortar joints that we cut into the side of the chimney while grinding in to remove the old rusty flashing. It is installed just like the original flashing, There is no other way to do this correctly.

This is the same chimney from the other side. I have seen several roofers attempt to re-flash a chimney, but they did it all wrong. It is really strange that they would do that, since all chimneys have a clear example of how it is to be done when they first built the chimney. I have seen where they cut a shallow diagonal line in through the bricks and mortar, so they can simply put one straight strip of flashing along the side. They will then attempt to caulk that flashing into the bricks instead of using mortar? No joke!

Here is a wood and sheet metal rise to divert the water to each side of the chimney. Here again they did not replace it with the last two roof jobs. I found another layer of steel under this one from the first roof job. It had rusted completely through both layers of steel sheet metal. The original contractor did well to build this rise above the chimney, but it was negligent of the last two roofing companies to not replace it. Inspectors do not want the flashing to ever be reused, as it is not going to last the 25 years like the new roofing, even if it is not rusty.

This shows the old rusty steel pan removed, that was shown above. This is the original wood from when the house was built. It was necessary to remove several rows of roofing shingles to get all the steel out. I also had to strip out a lot of wood shingles as well. It is best not to leave the steel in there as it will reach negatively with the new copper riser pan. The old rusty steel counter-flashing is still mortared into the chimney.

aluminum riser pan

Here is a brown and white painted aluminum pan covering a layer of thick roofing felt to act as a barrier from the nails that may work loose and dent or puncture the new copper pan yet to be installed. We tend to be meticulous about such details. We later installed 1/2" plywood to make up the space where we had to rip out the wood shingles in order to remove the bottom steel pan. The plywood overlapped into the aluminum pan. I then covered it with another layer of thick roofing felt to keep the aluminum separate from the copper.

Copper riser

Here is the new copper riser pan installed over the aluminum and two layers of 30 lb. roofing felt. It is nailed in place with copper nails into the new plywood where they will be covered by the new shingles. You can see the old counter-flashing still.

Here are the shingles fitted into the new copper pan. Below is a close up of the vertical rise and cap to seal the center. It was caulked on and nailed into place.

This picture below shows the new counter-flashing in place that has been mortared in. Don't you think that looks a lot nicer than the old flashing?

flashing Copper flashing

Here is the side of that same chimney showing the flashing. I have the exiting water from the pan extend over an inch past the side of the chimney.

Aluminum Counter-flashing Work (we use to do)

We rebuilt this chimney from the roof line up with all new bricks and clay red painted aluminum counter-flashing. We thought it looks a lot better than the galvanized or brown painted steel that most roofers will use (if they use anything at all).

The mortar was so crumbly that we were able to lift the bricks off with our bare hands. Now days I would only use copper flashing.

The black strap is to hold the television antenna up.

This is on a house in West Linn on Rosemont and Suncrest. We also replaced the gutters and rebuilt this chimney from the roof line on up. We later did the gutters on the house in the back ground.

It is important to make sure the top of the chimney is at least 2 feet higher than any thing flammable that is 10 feet or less away.

It is common that we have to build a special custom scaffold platform to work on that is strong enough to hold the weight of a worker, tools, bricks and a 5 gallon bucket of mortar. It also needs to sit gently on the roofing shingles to protect them. Sometimes this platform construction is half the work. There is also a braced arm sticking out to the side with a rope and pulleys to hoist up buckets full of bricks and just mixed mortar.

For this top cover, the cement is formed near the shape of the cap, and then the cap is pressed and tapped onto it for a tight fit, so the cement fills into each crevice of the cover.

It also has the advantage of giving the chimney a real working drip edge. It has galvanized screws pressed into holes drilled into the center section, and driven into the cement. This way the cap cannot blow off in high wind.

This one to the right is on a house in West Linn. I can also make this cap in copper as well. This chimney is only used for a gas vent, so high heat was not an issue.