Roof leaks at chimney flashing

[Blumengarten]

Hi Folks,

I had a new asphalt roof put on my house two years ago. Almost immediately, I noticed that it was leaking around the chimney (it had leaked there before the new roof was put on) so I called the roofer and he put a couple tubes of up around there. I thought it was fixed and didn't notice any more damage until this summer when I decided to finally remove the plaster and fix the damage. With the plaster gone, I noticed that it's still leaking with every rainfall. I asked a neighbor who is a contractor and he went up and put another couple tubes of roofing asphalt up there, but it's still leaking! (The neighbor shook his head when I told him who put the roof on; I'd chosen the roofer because he'd put my mom's roof on 15 years ago and it's still leak-free.)

How should this be fixed? More tubes of roofing asphalt? I live in Pittsburgh, we've had an extremely wet summer and we sometimes get very bad winters. The roof is rather steeply pitched so I'm not going up there myself.

Thanks!

[Cookie]

I would call back the roofer who put it on and tell him again, it is leaking. I would show him where it is leaking. I would have my contract out and sitting there and ask him, " now what are you going to do here?" Maybe, you could have someone with you who is experienced in this. I have an older neighbor I always use, I rent him by the hour for this stuff, lol.

To me it sounds like the flashing isn't bent right around the chimney. My roofer makes his own flashing and mine is bone dry. Maybe, some tar?

[FloridaOrange]

Sounds like it needs to be ripped out and redone. I'm not a big fan of just putting some caulk or putty and hope the problem goes away, that's just patching it blind.

[Cookie]

Yeah, I think you are right, he should take it down and redo the flashing. Good Matt, that's what the poster should do. Question, should the poster tell the roofer this? Suggest it? What? How should he handle it.

[FloridaOrange]

I didn't say he should redo it just that it needed to be redone.

The poster should tell his roofer to fix the problem, not throw patch jobs at it.

??

[Cookie]

Yep, I agree, it needs redone. What does the question mark mean?

[Blumengarten]

Thanks, Guys. I thought it would need to be re-done but I wanted someone else's opinion.

[Cass]

I just hope your contractor is honorable...

[Blumengarten]

Me too!!!!

[delta d]

flash and tar, sounds like some got greedy with one or the other.

[Roofer911]

If the chimney counter flashing is good then the problem is most like caused by improper installation of the roof shingles around the chimney (nails exposed in flashing) or the source of the leak could be originating further up the roof and finding it's opening at the chimney. Putting tar on a roof is only a temporay solution, the source of the leak needs to be found and repaired to insure a permenent fix!

[modbit]

I would call the roofer, before trying anything else. Give him another chance to resolve the issue.

[Windows on Washington]

Did the roofer repair the leak?

2 years should be inside the warranty coverage on most roofing projects (especially if we are talking about a new roof). Anything that starts leaking in 2 years wasn't done correctly from the start. If you are relying on glue and caulk to make your water seal, you are doomed to failure.