The roof saga continues.
Initially there were leaks around both chimneys.
Then after brief visit from one of Best Buy Metals’ roofers to address the problem the water mostly was coming in near the front side of the South chimney.
So they then sent out a couple more people to address that leak at the end of February.
After the second fix there were  leaks near the back side of the South chimney.
So they sent someone else out seal the flashing some more.
After the third fix there was still water coming in at the South chimney. I also investigated around the North chimney to found another situation which had probably been dripping some since the beginning…

This is why I try to do so many things myself – had I been in Tennessee at the time I should have stood on the roof and watched everything that was being done… I also should have crawled around in the attic a lot more after it was finished.

Not a good sign

If you hadn’t already seen the post, last fall we got a new roof. The decision on what type of roof to get was a long time in coming, but I thought I had made the right choice. The look is perfect, the type somewhat authentic, and the longevity was the best I could hope for. We purchased it from Best Buy Metals here in Cleveland and also had them do the installation. I had heard only good things about the company and in fact Dad has used them several times for other roofs here on the farm. So far I’ve been very happy with the outcome and customer service, which is good because I have the wing of the house to re-roof, as well as the Slave’s Quarters and Smokehouse that will have to be done eventually as well.

But the worrying part came in not too long ago when we had a pretty big rain which resulted in puddles around both of the chimneys. Apparently the sealant on the flashing had not taken. I spoke with my rep at Best Buy Metals and he was happy to send someone out to take a look as soon as possible. One of the roofers came out and re-sealed around the chimneys. I thought that had solved the problem, but when the next big rain came around I had to take a bucket up to the attic. The problem wasn’t as bad this time, but there was still a problem. I know I was obsessed with getting a roof that looked right, but having one that keeps out water would be nice too! I spoke again with the rep, he sent someone else out to took a closer look and did something else, and so far we haven’t had too much rain but hopefully it did the trick.

Best Buy has been very good about addressing the problem, but with the type of stuff that’s happening it has me concerned about the installation. Originally I wasn’t too happy with the flashing around the chimney because it actually doesn’t all match, but apparently it was done that way to function better – I didn’t quite understand why it couldn’t both match and function, but by the time I saw it for myself it was already done and wasn’t noticible from groundlevel so I let it go. The chineys are not exactly in perfect condition, but the edges against the roofline are stable and solid so it shouldn’t be any different from flashing against a newer brick chimney. I had wanted to get a coppersmith to do real copper flashing but there was concern about the different types of metals reacting to each other and causing corrosion, so I didn’t want to risk it. I can however use copper for counterflashing (which the current system does not have anyway), as long as it is installed with a buffer it won’t have any problems. This would give me added water protection as well as the look that I want… eventually. But I have to make sure the Best Buy Metal’s system is actually going to be leak-proof first!