Chimney leak getting into attic?

[Dano]

In my attic I have noticed some moisutre on my chimney... when it pours down raining, I even see a drip or two and have buckets up there...

Here in Seattle... just the last month we are approaching I believe were at something like 23 days striaght of rain... I believe 32 is the record! With the wind and the rain... it's hard at times to totally seal up your chimney.

I will be tackling this issue in the coming weekend. I believe I can get some tar and just "cake the heck" out of the area where the brick meets the deck of the roof... I think there is a layer of flashing up there to also work around. Roof is only 7 years old... it's just an issue on the one side of the chimney of course... where the wind and weather ususually come from....

I have heard that the best thing to do is use a "hot torch"... I guess you really get thru to the cracks and seal it up that way??? Were in the middle of winter however!

Any ideas on the best way to do this... much appreciated

Dano

[tom]

You don't state the pitch of the roof, but in Seattle, I'm betting it's got a decent pitch. Hire a good roofer, one who knows how to flash and counterflash properly. The "bucket of tar" approach will make a mess, and cause you more headaches than it's worth. Tom

[barry]

Right on. Bottom line: best to have flashing along entire seam, with gap along masonry. Counter-flashing inserted into cut-in pointing of masonry with gap facing down, extending over flashing. So that there's whatever overlap necessary side-to-side and above, but not a rigid, or gooped connection.

That way, you do it right, once. You'll find text & pix in pubs from "Journal of Light Construction" for one.

HTH, J

[timbirr]

Had the problem you are having. Four different roofers all checked roof, said there was no problem.

Was told to:

1) Put a chimney cap on the chimney.

2) Seal the entire brick surface at the end of each summer with a masonary waterproofing compound (I don't remember the brand I use, it comes in a gallon jug at the local pro mason store).

3) Light good fires in the chimney during after heavy rainy periods -- since I never used the chimney hardly at all before.

I'm in the Oregon rain forest. I followed that advice in 1995. Haven't had a problem since.....

[Capri]

Dano, I had a similar problem on our house here in Florida. Agree with another poster, if its a steep pitch, let a roofing guy get up there and do it. No sense breaking your back to save a few bucks. My problem turned out to be not the seal around the base of the chimney but nails had come out of the flashing leaving small holes all the way through the roof. If you house is like mine, like most new houses, it has pressboard instead of plywood for the roof, according to the roofing guy, nails used to hold down flashing don't hold as well in pressboard and actually should be caulked over after being nailed in. Another nice thing about letting a roofing guy do the job is that he can check other areas of the roof while he's up there just to make sure everything is ok.

regards, Phil

[Goedjn]

Aren't the nails used to hold down the flashing supposed to be covered by shingles, (or more flashing) anyway?

[timbirr]

Aye, if you can, just remembered the name of the waterproofing stuff I use, Chemstop Heavy Duty WB by Tamms.

Magical stuff.

[Capri]

Could be, I'm not a roofer, in our case there was/is a row of nails all along the outer edge of the flashing. Maybe they do it here in Florida to keep the wind (hurricanes) from getting under the flashing...just a guess

[Dano]

Thanks for all good info...

Dano