I learned that when inspecting a chimney flashing you should make sure that there is the sealant, counter flashing, step flashing and down in the front of the chimney there should be apron flashing installed to keep moisture from penetrating.
This is an example of a close valley where the shingles overlap in the valley of the roof and the is no metal valley material exposed, this is common on a lower pitched roof . This was on a manufactured home.
Ice barrier should be applied to the roof over the plywood structure and should extend 36" from the edge of the roof and about 24" pass the inside of the interior wall to protect against ice damage and moisture intrusion in the the house.
In this photo you see damaged and missing soffit which can cause too much ventilation. This will allow in rain water causing moisture and mold damage. This opening also allow rodents access causing roof damage as well as possible infestation.
Here is a picture of a roof transition. This is a garage asphalt roof sloping to a flat back game room. As the picture illustrates the steep to low slope transition flashing is not present. I would include this find in my report.
I chose to read the article Roofing Underlayment Types. I learned about the three types of underlayment such as asphalt saturated, rubberized asphalt, and non-bitumen synthetic. Staples are usually used to attach felt to the sheathing but in high wind areas plastic wind strips are used.
The gable style roof was observed to be covered with architectural asphalt shingles. The shingles and flashing details appear to be in good condition and properly installed. The roof covering was observed from the eaves of the roof using an extension ladder.
Installed gutters should never discharge water onto the roof surface. This conditions causes an increased chance of water penetration around dormers, and also causes areas of localized wear on the shingles due to the increased amount of water running over those areas.
This is a picture of a roof with no gutters. The opening shown is over a walk out deck. In this particular area, water will flow like a waterfall directly onto the deck. To make matters worse, there is a french door that opens out onto the deck at that opening.
I read the article on Mastering Roof Inspections: I. This article covered accessing the roof and roof safety. It reinforced safe practices and improper conditions to walk on a roof. It also covered the proper conditions as well. I found this article a good refresher.
Here is an example of a pull down attic ladder insulator component. The attic tent insulator is designed to create an air transfer barrier between the attic and living areas. Insulation consists of attaching a few plastic round cap roofing nails or staples through the micro-fiber urethane insulator and into the framing of the stairs unit.
Percede with caution when using an attic pull down ladder. More times than not a home owner installed the unit not a perfesional installer. Some installation defects are ceiling rafters have been cut through so unit will fit making the area not structuraly sound. Attaching the pull down unit with Sheetrock srews which in effect can not handle the shear strength and can fail. Lastly, legs on ladder are cut too short so legs do not make contact of the floor or legs kept too long causing dangerous pressure at the folding hinge that will fail and break.
If you take a look at the picture provided you will see this downspout is moldy and is starting to deteriorate and not only that the downspout is draining very closely to the condenser which is defiantly not a good thing to do.
I learned by looking through the Nachi.org/gallery that there are many problems that can go wrong with gutters and drains and downspouts. For example they can be rusted, stocked up, or not have any at all which is all major problems and can cause major leaks.
We can see this was a single story, slightly sloped asphalt shingled roof. Due to this type of roof, it was deemed acceptable to walk on the roof to gather a proper full surveillance. Here is an image of a vent pipe. This vent pipe is properly installed with a flashing boot to limit water penetration. The only recommendation would be painting the ABS vent pipe to extend the life of the piping due to sun and weather exposure.
Drip Edge Shapes image
We can see in the image the different types of drip edge flashing shapes. Drip edge flashing is required to be placed around the perimeter of roof surfaces to eliminate water intrusion and penetration on wood fascia boards.
In this picture you can see exposed roofing nails with no kind of sealant on them. This is definitely an area of concern due to the fact that they can corrode and allow water underneath the shingle. This can be fixed by applying tar over the nail.
It was observed that moss was growing on asphalt shingles. This can lead to deterioration of roof decking due to water being leached under the shingles by the moss. It is recommended that the roof surface be cleaned of moss growth by a professional as part of a regular maintenance plan. This is typically inexpensive and easily completed on most shingle roofs. Due to the amount and size of moss growth, it is highly recommended that a qualified roofer be contacted for further evaluation of the roof surface.
It was observed that moss was growing on asphalt shingles. This can lead to deterioration of roof decking due to water being leached under the shingles by the moss. It is recommended that the roof surface be cleaned of moss growth by a professional as part of a regular maintenance plan. This is typically inexpensive and easily completed on most shingle roofs. Due to the amount and size of moss growth, it is highly recommended that a qualified roofer be contacted for further evaluation of the roof surface.
The picture I chose to write about was “roof framing definitions”. It portrays the framing of a roof from the view of an attic space. From the picture I learned where the collar ties, rafters, and rafter ties are located at.