Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House): Roof Flashings

When a homeowner installs a new roof, or puts in plumbing stacks or roof vents, that person should do some reading about the process before going up on the roof. The two plumbing stack flashings below have problems. The one on the left was a decent flashing prior to the "roofer" slathering it up with tar. He had a proper flashing that would work, but he did not get how it works. Instead of putting the flashing in so it neatly fits up under the shingles -- water is shed over the top -- he smeared tar under it and then pressed it down onto the roof.

On the photo to the right, he put a hole in the roof and smeared tar all around it -- that tar was the only flashing. While this method of flashing might work short-term, it is not the right way to do it for long-term benefit. The only way I could justify doing this kind of job would be to stop-gap a leak during a serious storm -- the equivalent of temporarily fixing a flat tire with one of those spray cans that will reinflate the tire until you are in a more convenient location. The photo at the bottom is an example of a standard flashing job, as done by a roofer.

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