Skylight and Chimney Flashing Repair in North Canton, Ohio

Why do chimneys and skylights leak first?

Shingles shed water well on an open slope. A chimney or a skylight interrupts that slope, and the gap has to be bridged with metal. That metal is called flashing. Done right, it outlasts the shingles. Skipped, smeared with tar or left over from two roofs ago, it is the first thing to fail. Freeze and thaw cycles here run from November into March and work on every joint.

What goes wrong with chimney flashing in North Canton?

The houses near Main Street and Maple Street date from the 1920s to the 1940s, and most were built with a brick chimney. Good chimney flashing has two parts. Step flashing is a row of bent metal pieces woven into the shingles up each side. Counterflashing is set into the mortar joints above and laps down over the steps. Water has to get past both.

On many older chimneys one part is missing. A common shortcut at reshingle time was to leave the old metal and coat the joint with roof cement. That holds for a few winters, then cracks. From the street it shows as a black band where brick meets shingle. Other signs:

• A stain on the ceiling or wall beside the chimney.
• Peeling paint or damp plaster on the chimney breast upstairs.
• Rust streaks running down the metal.
• A dip in the shingles just uphill of the chimney.

A wide chimney also needs a cricket. That is a small peaked saddle built on the uphill side to split the water around the brick. Building codes call for one when a chimney is more than 30 inches wide across the slope. Many old chimneys never got one, and leaves and snow pile up behind them.

What is not part of a flashing repair?

Brick and mortar. A crumbling crown, open mortar joints or loose bricks belong to a mason. The photo report shows those too, so you know which trade to call. Flashing set into bad mortar will not hold, so sometimes the mason has to go first.

How do skylights fail?

Skylights fail in two ways, and the fix is different for each.

The flashing leaks

Water shows at the corners of the opening or runs down the drywall shaft. The glass is clear and the frame is sound. This is a flashing problem. The shingles around the unit come up, the old flashing comes out, and a new flashing kit and membrane go in.

The unit itself is done

Fog or beads of water between the panes mean the factory seal has gone, and it cannot be resealed. Older plastic domes turn yellow and brittle. A cracked frame or a rotted curb is the same story. The unit is replaced, with new flashing at the same time.

In North Canton most skylights sit on houses that were built without them. Ranches from the 1950s to the 1980s often gained one in a kitchen or bath remodel, and the curb was framed by whoever did the remodel. Two-story homes from the 1990s more often have factory glass units over a family room or a bath, and those units are now about thirty years old.

Should a skylight be replaced with the roof?

Usually, yes. A skylight has roughly the life of the shingles around it. Replacing a roof and leaving a 30-year-old skylight means cutting into new shingles a few years later. When a roof rates Replace Soon, the skylight goes on the same written quote as the roof replacement. When the roof is sound and only the skylight has failed, it is handled as a roof repair.

How does a flashing or skylight job go?

1. Call or use the quote button. You hear back by text or phone inside an hour.
2. The owner inspects from the roof and from the room below.
3. The photo report arrives the same day, with the chimney or skylight shown up close.
4. A fixed written price is set before any work starts.
5. The work is done on a dry day, and you get photos of the finished metal.

Not sure what you are looking at? A free roof inspection covers the whole roof, not just the one spot. Chimney trouble is most common on the blocks covered by our page on older roofs near Main and Maple.