Leaking roof flashing repair

[Me]

The back porch leaks water during a particularly heavy rain storm. New shingles were put on about a year ago by a professional roofer and it didn't leak until I hammered up ceiling boards to the inside of the porch just recently.

On inspection, there is a thick bead of black caulking along the top of the flashing where it lies against the brick of the house but it must have microscopic cracks in it to cause so many leaks.

If I took a heat gun and ran it along the bead of caulking along the top of the flashing, would it melt enough to seal any cracks? Or is it necessary to remove the old caulking first then apply new?

Any more ideas, particularly better ones?

[Me]

The back porch leaks water during a particularly heavy rain storm. New shingles were put on about a year ago by a professional roofer and it didn't leak until I hammered up ceiling boards to the inside of the porch just recently.

On inspection, there is a thick bead of black caulking along the top of the flashing where it lies against the brick of the house but it must have microscopic cracks in it to cause so many leaks.

If I took a heat gun and ran it along the bead of caulking along the top of the flashing, would it melt enough to seal any cracks? Or is it necessary to remove the old caulking first then apply new?

Any more ideas, particularly better ones?

[Me]

The back porch leaks water during a particularly heavy rain storm. New shingles were put on about a year ago by a professional roofer and it didn't leak until I hammered up ceiling boards to the inside of the porch just recently.

On inspection, there is a thick bead of black caulking along the top of the flashing where it lies against the brick of the house but it must have microscopic cracks in it to cause so many leaks.

If I took a heat gun and ran it along the bead of caulking along the top of the flashing, would it melt enough to seal any cracks? Or is it necessary to remove the old caulking first then apply new?

Any more ideas, particularly better ones?

[chaniarts]

heat doesn't affect latex or silicone caulk. it has to be removed. we can't tell what kind you have. you might ask your installer.

[jamesgangnc]

The way I install flashing on a chimney is to chisel out some of the mortar and insert the flashing between the bricks. Then replace the mortar with that concrete repair stuff in a caulk tube. I don't find that flashing can be caulked directly to bricks and not need revisiting regularly.

[jamesgangnc]

Here's a picture

[jamesgangnc]

Here's a picture

[norminn]

You probably have some sort of warranty on the work, or at the very least the interest of a reputable contractor in correcting defects, so call the contractor. Just be respectful, clearly describe the problem, and see if he will take a look. If he is even halfway decent, he has an interest in making sure his work was done properly and the customer is happy.

I read somewhere....on the newsgroup?....that the majority of roofing jobs require callbacks. We had severe problems with installation of a $47K job on our condo...everything went well on correcting the situation until someone on the condo board got pissy about it. Had two major reworks for badly nailed shingles....our particular shingles were a poor choice for our particular roof. In the long run, we ended up better off when the hurricanes came through in '05...contractor had gone over the whole thing to put adhesive under the tabs and that kept them on in the near-hurricane force winds.

[The Post Quartermaster]

Sounds to me like they used a roofing product from "Henry's". It's black. I've had success with a heat gun but what I did was heat it pretty good and then apply some new over it. You buy the stuff by as little as a quart, I think. Check Home Depot or Lowe's. If your leaks are in a place where the fix would not be all that noticeable, I've had really good luck with "Great Stuff" just point spray and wait. You can smooth it out with sandpaper and paint it after about a week or so.

[hallerb]

call original roofer and see what he says. since OP said no problem till he nailed up some boards, there may be more than one reason for the leak. at least get pro opinion

[clare]

Get some "blue seal" self adhesive, self sealing flashing. Very much like ice-guard - or some torch-down roof membrane.