Hello, my first post, and it is my second inspection. Your help would be appreciated.
New town home in North Carolina.
Notice all the fasteners are exposed (see the red circles) in the header flashing. Is this allowed in the new house roofing practice, or it is a defect? (all the neighborhood are built in this way)
Another question: is the kick out flashing too short, as circled in the following photo? Its dump is flushed with the stone siding beneath it. I think it will not efficiently guide water to flow to the gutter. What do you think? Also, the sheathing is visible from ground, I think the local water splashing is going to damage the sheathing. is this an issue as well?
If they insist on using fasteners here, it would be best if they were covered with sealant.
It would be nice if it was protruding beyond the stone but may perform fine as installed. Really tough to tell for sure from your photos. Were you not able to get on the roof to get a better view of these items?
From that view, I would definitely like to see that kickout protrude further. During heavy rains with a lot of water flow, it will be ok but lighter rains I don’t think that water is making it to the gutter.
That almost looks like ridge vent mesh installed on the sloped portion of the roof? If so, that would be a non-standard installation and depending on how they installed that it could be a potential spot for moisture intrusion for sure.
Although the kick out would be nice to divert into the gutter, it is not required… the only function of the kick out is to keep water from entering behind the wall material.
I wouldn’t call it out, because I dont think anyone would do anything about it.
If it was directly over a walkway than I may mention it as a nuisance.
I’ve seen those vents in both Oregon and Maui as well. A roofer I know calls them “eyebrow vents”. Not sure it that’s correct/accurate. I personally think they look TERRIBLE and wouldn’t want them on my house or my neighbor’s. Function-wise they do help get the air intake above the insulation line in the attic which is often a struggle as we all know.
As for the downspout/kick-out debate, I think the kick-out is fine but the gutter is too short. The upper downspout discharging right against the siding roof (step-flashing) seam is not ideal. Of course, gutter guys aren’t building envelope specialists so they rarely put any thought into it. As for the fasteners on the head-flashing, I see them like that all the time and they are either sealed over or have rubber/foam washers.
That shingle overhang at the drip-edge is also odd. Can’t say it’s wrong but a good roofer would never do that. Homeowner’s think that “helps” but all it really does is sentence the poor guy cleaning the gutters for the next 25 years to bloody knuckles.
I was noticing that too, Matt. 1/2" overhang is what GAF suggests and maybe other manufacturers as well. Too much overhang not only looks droopy/saggy and unprofessional, but can also catch more wind and those shingles are more prone to damage during storms. And like you said, bloody knuckles are a concern when doing gutter maintenance.
I installed some gutter guards recently on my friend’s house and I was pissed at the roofers (whoever they are) who installed the shingles with excessive overhang as if it is an acceptable substitute for installing drip edge. It isn’t.
