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Chasing Your Tail

It is funny to watch a cat or dog go round in circles chasing their tail. They are just playing and having fun. I bet if children had tails they would do the same.

tarry stack The thing with tail chasing is it is an exercise in futility. The goal can never be accomplished. Even a dog or cat seems to understand this and gives up in a short time.

I sure looks like the person who has continually tried to seal this plumbing vent is chasing his tail. Clearly there is a copious amount of roofing tar that has been repeatedly glopped around this stack. By the color it was re-sealed fairly recently.

When checking the wood around the stack in the attic it was wet. Really no surprise.

What's that old saying about insanity; doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Sounds like just another way of saying; you're chasing your tail.

Applying roofing tar around this stack again and again will never accomplish the goal of sealing out water.

Why? Because who ever put the roof on this house never put a plumbing vent flashing around the stack. Which brings up another cliché;

A man has to know his limitations. (Clint Eastwood)

James Quarello
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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Posted by James Quarello - ASHI Certified CT Home Inspector on 10/31/2009 07:34 AM

Comments (18)

Roofing Defects in the ActiveRain Channel

roofing problems, plumbing vents, connecticut ct home inspections, connecticut ct home inspectors, ashi certified

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18 Comments on Chasing Your Tail

OCT

funny and very true. . good information and thanks for sharing

Great post, you are right if you are going to fix something do it right.,

I am not a handyman but I think that I would have figured out...life up the shingles, apply flashing correctly then reapply shingles...Roofing tar is like make up...sometimes you can cake it on but it ain't going to help!

James, can you imagine a world with NO expansion and contraction?:)

Yet Steven continues to chase his tail with gleaming posts of Nutsy's attributes.

Mr Quintarillo,

I never chase my tail. I do chase tail but not my own.

Nutsy

Nutsy, remember that time you sat on the ice too long and your tail froze to the ice and you had to chew it off before you froze to death? How is the prosthetic tail doing by the way?