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Even from the Brooklyn Bridge this looks like trouble!

There are not all that many roofs that I do not walk on---but one of the kinds I don’t usually walk on is steep metal roofs. If one thinks back to their childhood---they make slippery-slides out of metal for a reason. I know there are plastic ones, but they are not nearly as good as metal ones----unless there is water running down them.

So, I was looking at this one from the eaves and from the ground, to make as good an assessment of the roof as I could.

I think everyone can see in this picture that there is no flashing around this vent pipe.

Vent Pipe with no Flashing

From the attic side, it is as clear as blue sky and green grass that there just “ain’t no flashing.”

View of the sky from the attic

WHOOPS!

Charles Buell

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Posted by Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector on 11/07/2009 10:19 AM

Comments (36)

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seattle home inspector, shoreline wa home inspector, vent pipe flashing, metal roof flashing

Originally posted at: Seattle Home Inspector's Blog: Even from the Brooklyn Bridge this looks like trouble!

Post is included in group: The Ninety-ninth Percentile
Post is included in group: Sparky's Plumbing
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36 Comments on Even from the Brooklyn Bridge this looks like trouble!

NOV

But hey.....the wood doesn't look wet! So that's a relief for now, till they get that flashing on!

Looks pretty recently installed...perhaps they just haven't gotten around to it. Perhaps.

Now thats something that even I wouldn't have missed.....i think

Wow ... if that was here, there would be birds, squirrels, raccoons, and lord knows what else, 'hibernating' in there for the Winter... that hole would be twice as wide in no time.
... maybe they're at the store buying the material to finish it??. :)

Christine, given how long it had been that way it was really quite amazing there was as little damage as there was.

Tim---it had been that way at least 6 months

Heather, I am sure you wouldn't have

Sylvie---sometimes one just gets lucky:)

WHAT?!? You don't wear your special cleated shoes for the metal roofs?! Good thing that home at attic access, so you could show the "oops" . . . a picture is worth 1,000 words, as they say.

Carla---I have been thinking of getting "suction-cup-shoes" for these occasions:)

I think they really got lucky with this one. The last six months have been relatively dry! The next six, however....

HELLOOOOOOO!?

Marcy, yup

Amy, great comment:)

Thanks Charles, That was all I could think of....OMG!

Hey Charles ~

Six months?! Wow, it is amazing there isn't any damage to it. We have a metal roof on our house and absolutely love it!

Amy, it was the perfect comment---sometimes comments just can't be about the points:)

Janice---they just got lucky.

it's amazing that they haven't had any water damage. Even a drizzle would have send water directly into the attic. They should be very unhappy with whomever installed that vent pipe. (but in actuality they're probably just pissed at you, for noticing it).

Alan for sure---someone is ALWAYS going to be pissed at me:)

When I read the post, I thought it MUST be new, but then read it been 6 months. I can only say the owners must have really been living right to have no damage.

Tammy, sometimes just a nail hole will drain water to a place where it causes a lot of damage. In this case the water just didn't seem to affect anything----mostly just followed the pipe into the crawl space. It has also been dry for a really long time---but certainly some amount of rain entered the building in that time. If it still hasn't been fixed, I would be willing to bet there is lots of damage given the amount of rain we have had since this inspection:)

Picky, Picky, Picky. I bet you are not popular with sellers.

Steve, yup---guilty as charged

Sometimes you see stuff that just makes you go "Oh. Wow. What were they thinking?".

This would qualify.

Was the roof brand new and the roofer just "forgot" to put on the flashinf?

Paul, I would vote for "forgot" even though I personally don't like those boots that just screw to the face of the metal pan. I would rather see the panel split so that it could properly counterflash the pipe flashing. Around here, I see it both ways. Since this one was not split either the roofer forgot to install it or just plain didn't know what the heck they were doing----take your pick:)

NOV

Charlie B, Nothing that a few tube of sealant and chewing gum can't fix.. Lighten up ~ LOL.

Helping you live your American dream...

Michael they might have to wrap a few empties around it first and THEN caulk the crap out of it:)

Mr Charles,

Just for the record, I could have traversed that roof, and gone in the hole, with no problem. Even after having Pizza I could do that.

Nutsy

All that with a permit to boot. Amazing now call that roofer back and get him to do the job right.

Nutsy I would hope so

Gene, well the permit part was very questionable as well:)

NOV

So you don't walk steep metal roofs! I don't even walk less steep ones these days. The closest I ever came to becoming a statistic was on a wet, shallow metal roof. I was inspecting it for myself. fortunately, I caught the ladder as I was sliding by, and my wife had just pulled up and grabbed the ladder. It was only a ten foot drop, but old bodies don't handle falls so well. So be careful if you go on metal roofs. Oh yeah, the missing flashing; everybody elses comments fit.

David, I have noticed that I don't bounce as well as I used to

Mr Charles,

If you do not fall you do not need to bounce.

Nutsy

Nutsy is a thief

NOV

Apparently, after Superman saw the problem, it was too steep even for The Flash to make it up there to finish the job.

Jay sounds good to me

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how a roofer would forget the flashing like that.

Michael, maybe they just plain didn't have one on the truck and just never got around to it----after they didn't get paid?:)

NOV

Charlie - NO ...not Nutsy! Yeah, right - he was the first thing I thought about when I saw that photo in your post.

Hi Carol---nice to see you around again:) Yes Nutsy would be in there in a flash making his usual mess.

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