About Jenn

Deck stairs with split stringer

Information on correctly and safely building a deck for your home is readily available, and yet many decks that we see are just an accident waiting to happen. As a homeowner it is important to ensure that your deck is safe, and to do your best to prevent potential risks to your family and loved ones. No one wants to have a tragedy occur during a backyard barbeque, but an unsafe desk poses just such a risk. There are a number of components that make up a deck, and that need to be maintained to ensure deck safety, however for the purposes of today’s article we are going to focus on the stairs.

Today let’s talk about slate roofs. Slate roofs are unique to any
other roof-type, and in order to successfully inspect a slate roof it is
imperative that you first understand the various characteristics of the slate
itself, as well as the ways that those characteristics impact the use of slate
as a roofing material. Those characteristics are beyond the scope of this blog
post, instead we will focus on problems that are often seen with slate roofing.

One of the potential problem areas with slate roofs occur around
the points at which the slate is fastened to the roof. As the slate ages, these
fasteners can break free, something that often occurs during winter when snow and
ice weigh on the slate and add stress to the fasteners.

All slate roofs have snow and ice breaks on the roof, which helps
to slow the progress of snow and ice sliding down the roof, often referred to
as ‘ice bars’. During an inspection it is important to ensure that these bars
are inspected as well, as the pressure of snow and ice can cause them to become
loosened.
As slate roofs age, the need for annual maintenance increases, and can
become costly. The level of maintenance required is dependent on a number of
factors, including: the area of the country in which the house is located, the
size of the roof, the number of qualified slate roofing companies in your area,
and the type of slate that is used. Some slate-types have only a 20-30 year
expected life span. If you are considering purchasing a home with a slate roof,
you would be strongly encouraged to get additional information about the type
of slate roof particular to the home in question, and to talk with a qualified
roof inspector about the risks and potential costs inherent to that particular
type of slate.

Let’s talk about chimneys, masonry chimneys to be specific. At the top of the chimney there is intended to be a concrete top, called a “chimney cap” or “wash cap”.  The purpose of these caps it to allow water to drain over the top of the chimney, thus preventing it water from getting down into the masonry itself, which can cause significant damage. The issue of water flowing into the masonry is of particular concern when temperatures drop and the water freezes, as this can cause the chimney to heave, damaging the chimney and/or flue liner. Therefore, in order to protect the chimney from this kind of damage it is important to have a good chimney or wash cap, and to ensure that it is mortared at the seams to prevent leaking.

Above, you can see two photos of chimneys. In one of the photos, the chimney has a concrete wash cap and the mortar joints are sealed. In the other photo the chimney does not have a wash cap, and you can clearly see that the bricks have worn mortar joints, and some of the bricks themselves have shifted. To further complicate matters, the flue is not shown in this photo because the top of the flue is broken and now missing.  In this case, the flue did not have a flue cover. The purpose of a flue cover is to protect the flue from water leaking in, which can cause damage, as well as to prevent rodents or birds from entering the flue and nesting there. All chimney flues should have a proper cap that is high enough for good drafting, and screened to prevent animal entry.