Roof Leak Detection and Flashing

Have ready

Have the attic open and a ladder that reaches it, and put a piece of tape at the edge of the ceiling stain so it can be watched during the test. Note when the leak shows up, because timing narrows the search more than anything else: steady rain, wind-driven rain, or snow melt. The technician checks the penetration above the stain first, then the flashing laps. Step flashing should be woven into the courses rather than nailed flat over them, counterflashing should sit in a reglet cut into the masonry, and the boot collar should be sound, not cracked at the top.

• Water test the penetration
• Inspect the flashing
• Correct the detail
• Photograph the repair

The visit

A roof leak detection and flashing visit starts by naming the failure, not by selling the fix. We check what the problem touched, protect the floors and the rooms below, and leave a written scope. The work is done in one sequence by the same company, so the trade that caused the damage is the trade that closes it.

What fails first on the Shore is what we look at: salt-rotted fasteners, water finding the soft spot, and the 'quick fix' that never dealt with the cause. For roof leak detection and flashing, the tell is usually visible on the first visit, and we say what it means in plain English.

Permit

Chasing and repairing a leak is not a permit job in most New Jersey towns, and a leak call should not turn into one. A permit generally enters the picture only if sheathing or framing has to be replaced, or if the covering comes off a large area with it. Work on the chimney above the roof line can fall under a separate trade. Ask the town if the repair turns structural. Otherwise the water test is the inspection.

On the Shore

Salt air pits aluminum flashing and eats the mill finish on galvanized, and once the surface chalks, caulk will not bond to it. The chimney is the worst of it: masonry holds moisture, freeze-thaw works the counterflashing loose out of the reglet, and a nor'easter drives water sideways under a lap that sheds straight rain without complaint. That is why surface caulk fails within a season here and properly lapped metal does not. Metal choice follows exposure, not preference.

When we leave

The repair is water tested before anything gets packed up, run slowly at the penetration long enough to show on the ceiling side and watched from the attic with a light. The chimney gets the same treatment at the counterflashing. Photos of the open detail and the closed detail go into the record. The care note is to watch the stain for a week, since old insulation and drywall hold water long after the leak has stopped.

Built with

Step flashing is bent from aluminum or copper, counterflashing from the same metal, and both lap rather than butt. Pipe boots are neoprene or silicone collars sized to the pipe, not a universal cone stretched over it. Sealant is a polyurethane or tripolymer caulk rated for masonry, used as a backstop rather than as the flashing. Copper lasts longest at the Shore; aluminum is fine where it stays clear of treated wood and mortar.