My house is balloon framed 2 stories, plus a full height attic (except at the edges:) ). The house is clad with brick. There is water comming in just forward of the back chimney (this is not used for anything right now). It is coming down inside through the lath+plaster ceiling.
I have had a roofer up last spring and he did not see anything obviously wrong. He was going to come back and redo the flashing anyway just for the sake of doing something – but never made it back. I have a mason up there. He made sure that the chimney cap he put in place the previous year was fine. From his point of view everything looked fine as well. He would like to see the chimney come down (planned for this summer). He did not see a problem with the flashing. At my request he spread a bunch of roofing tar over the whole area.
Now, the water that comes down is stained with tar…
My next plan is to tear out the lathe and plaster in the ceiling immediately around the area in question. I will look at the bottom of the roof deck carefullly. Maybe I can locate the leak from there. Does this make sense?
Any other suggestions.
Replies
You most likely have a flashing problem (with a chance that the roof is bad a distance up the roof from the chimney and the water is running down the roof untill it hits the chimney and comes through).
Smearing tar over the area was a bad idea - just masks where the leak is and makes it that much harder to repair.
Most likely the shingles above the chimney should be removed, with a saddle built above the chimney to divert the water around it.
First thing you should learn - Flashing-in-a-can (tar) doesn't work.
Terry
spreading tar was an EXTREMELY bad idea, as you made the repair much more difficult for the guy who will eventually successfully repair the problem.
Personally, if I was called into a situation like this I would be charging at least $125 extra over my normal charge as a "fine" for complicating my task.
that said-----diagnosis is tough over the internet
2 common areas of concern
1) most roofers and most masons do very poor jobs of flashing----VERY poor. Yours may say everything looks OK--------but it is possible they simply don't know quite what they are doing.-----Veryfirst thing to check----is the counter flashing inset into the mortar joints---or is it simply face nailed? Be carefull here because a lot of workers know it is supposed to be tucked back into the mortar joints----and fake this effect by face nailing the top edge of phony counterflashing along a horizontal mortar joint.
2) more esoteric---------check the width of the back pan. specifically---where does the edge of the pan dump the water? I like to extend my pans 4 inches beyound the corner of the chimney on each rear corner. Pay special attention that you are not dumping water directly into a key way or butt joint between adjacent shingles.
here is why.the adhesive strip on some shingles( usually low end products is a solid line of adhesive. On better shingles it is a broken line looking like this------------,
Now--when you collect a lot of water behind a chimney and cause it to travel sideways around an obstruction like a chimney-----when the water begins to travel down hill again from the corner of the pan----it spreads OUT( it doesnt remain a narrow stream.
Still with me?---now If you dump that stream into a keyway or butt joint------as it spreads out it will move under the SIDE of a shingle tab. the broken -------adhesive line will allow the water to drain out----but a solid line will trap the water and allow it to travel sideways untill it finds a joint in the UNDERLYING shingle----presto! roof leak from an invisible source!( this happens a lot in valleys---heavilly dependent on volume of water in play)
No mason and virtually no roofer is ever gonna track that down. without the tar smeared on the roof it would have been comparatively simple to change the width of the pan----or to adjust the location of a butt joint, or compensate for a keyway.
Of course it could be something entirely different.
Goodluck, Stephen
it`s also posibble that there is no secondary flashing beneath the main flashing what ever that may be, if there is no secondary flashing woven into the shingles beneath the main flashing then it leaves an avenue for wind blown rain to come in thru the overlaps in the side main flashing and roll down the side of the chimney.
all good advice..
someone mentioned a "saddle".. which we would call a cricket...
this is along the line of Stephen's uphill pan..
anytime we encounter a reroof with a chimney with no cricket, we usually include in our spec building and flashing a cricket into the chimney..
since you plan on taking the chimney down anyways.. why wait ?
take it down and roof over it.. the repairs will cost the same either way but one way you will have to do it twiceMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
What is the proper technique for replacing damaged lead flashing, or installing new lead flashing in an existing brick chimney? How do you remove the mortar? How deep? How do you you cement in the new flashing?
Does lead poisoning make squirrels smarter or dumber?
Thanks!
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
al... i've seen squirrels eat right thru the lead.. and i still can't hit 'em with my shotgun..so i'm guessing "smarter"
good thing i got tar paper under my roof shingles .. seems to stop the pellets.. least my roof ain't leaking
the proper technigue is to carefully remove old flashing and the mortar to a depth of about 1.5" ..
in practise , most cut the old mortar out with a grinding wheel.. but a small chisel will work alos
fold and insert the new flashing, you can usuall hold it in place by making a lead "slug"
i cut 1" strips of lead.. roll them up so the roll is a little fatter than the mortar joint..
tamp them in with a dull chisel or a tamp..this will lock the flashing in place, then remortar the joint..
most nowadays use one of the new polyurethane mortars in a caulk tube,
tool the joint with a wet finger without getting it all over the brick and yourself ( easier said than done )Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Thanks, Mike!
The mortar goes only on top of the lead, right?
Al
right.. only now it'll be polyurethane masonry caulkMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Finished ceiling in attic?
Another possibility:
Are you sure it is leaking?
Sometimes warm moist air will condense on the cold flashing and drip down. Particularly if a lot of air is escaping around the chimney chase.
Sounds like you do not want to invest much in it if you are going to be taking the chimney down anyways, so other suggestions may be overkill.
I would be tempted to lay down some roll roofing, or even ice&water shield to blanket the area, and screw and caulk some angled aluminum flashing around the chimney, just until spring.
You could run roll roofing vertically from peak, sealing lapped edges with roofing cement.
Don't think I would trust tarps to survive entire winter. Roofing felt, maybe... Perhaps some of that new fancy roofing felt that does not tear would work.