Roof leak repair
Trace the path instead of patching the stain.
If your ceiling stains near the chimney in hard rain, the chimney is not the problem. What's around it is.
Chimney leaks come from a short list: step flashing that was never woven into the shingle courses properly, counter flashing that was surface-caulked instead of cut into a mortar joint, a cracked crown at the top, or open mortar joints letting water into the masonry itself.
Caulk across a flashing joint is a temporary measure that fails within a season or two, and it's the single most common thing found on leaking chimneys in this housing stock. Counter flashing belongs cut into the mortar and folded over the step flashing — that's a mechanical detail, not a sealant detail.
Sometimes it's a mason's job, not a roofer's. A spalling crown, loose bricks, or open joints on a hundred-year-old chimney are masonry work, and doing the flashing without addressing them just moves the leak.
Trace the path instead of patching the stain.
Historic slate on river-town homes.
Photos and findings before anyone quotes a tear-off.
Primary coverage is Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, with regular dispatch into the close South Hills, North Hills, and Washington County towns.
Driving rain hits the vertical masonry and runs down. If the flashing isn't cut in and layered correctly, that's when it finds the way in — which is why a chimney can be dry all summer and leak in one storm.
No. Sealant across a flashing joint fails in a season or two. Counter flashing needs to be cut into the mortar joint and set properly.
Sometimes both. Flashing is roofing; a spalling crown, loose bricks or open mortar joints are masonry, and a leak can be either or both.
24/7 dispatch for leaks, storm damage, hail, fallen limbs and ice dams across the Ohio Valley.