No spot on the house takes more water than the junction of chimney and roof. We repair and rebuild that transition so it sheds every storm.
Flashing is the layered metal system spanning the seam between chimney and roof — the single most leak-prone transition on a Pinecrest home. Built correctly, it works in two parts: step flashing woven into each shingle course to carry water down the roof plane, and counter-flashing let into the stack's mortar joints to shield the step pieces from above. When either layer fails — lifted by wind, split by age, or smeared over with roofing tar as a shortcut — rainwater slides behind the metal and into the framing. Most of the 'roof leaks' we are called about start exactly here.
The repair we propose follows from what failed. Loose counter-flashing gets re-secured into a freshly cut reglet and sealed so it cannot back out again. Corroded or improperly lapped step flashing is replaced piece by piece, woven into the surrounding shingles the way it should have been originally. Where a wide chimney meets the roof on its uphill side, we can add a saddle to split the water flow instead of letting it pond against the masonry. And when a previous owner's tar patch is holding on by habit, we strip it out and rebuild the transition in metal — because sealant alone is a countdown, not a fix.
Flashing in Pinecrest fights three enemies at once. Relentless UV bakes the sealants at the counter-flashing joint until they crack and shrink. Daily thermal swings — a roof surface that scorches by afternoon and cools fast under an evening storm — work the metal back and forth until fasteners loosen. And the salt haze that drifts a few miles inland from Biscayne Bay slowly corrodes cheaper galvanized steel, opening pinholes right where water concentrates. That is why we specify corrosion-resistant metal and high-grade sealants on every flashing job here; materials that hold up elsewhere do not always hold up on a Miami-Dade roof.
Hurricane-force gusts are the other local reality. Wind that gets a fingertip under a lifted flashing edge will peel it like a can lid, and June-through-November storm season gives it plenty of chances. We also see a steady stream of flashing failures that trace back to re-roofing jobs: roofers replace the shingles, reuse tired step flashing, and caulk over the counter-flashing instead of resetting it into the mortar. Two or three rainy seasons later, the ceiling stains start. If your Pinecrest home was re-roofed in the last few years and now shows water near the chimney, flashing is the first thing we check.
We replace corroded or badly lapped step flashing piece by piece, weaving each unit into the shingle courses so water is carried down the roof plane, never behind it.
Loose or surface-mounted counter-flashing is cut into a proper reglet in the mortar joint, locked in place, and sealed at the top edge.
On wide chimneys, we build a peaked saddle on the uphill side so runoff splits around the masonry instead of ponding against it.
UV-degraded caulk at flashing joints is stripped and replaced with high-temperature, weather-rated sealant — as maintenance, not as a substitute for sound metal.
We remove failing roofing-cement patches and rebuild the transition in metal, correcting the shortcut instead of adding another layer to it.
Where salt air has eaten through galvanized steel, we upgrade to metals built for the coastal atmosphere of south Miami-Dade.
We examine both flashing layers, the surrounding shingles, and the mortar joints the counter-flashing anchors into, and confirm whether the leak starts at the roofline or higher on the stack.
You get a written scope naming which components are failing — step, counter, saddle, or sealant — with upfront pricing for the fix.
We replace or reset the metal in the correct sequence and lap order, then seal the reglet and top edges with weather-rated sealant.
We check the finished transition against wind-driven-rain angles and confirm shingle integration before we leave the roof.
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Less time than the same metal lasts inland. UV, daily heat cycling, and salt-carrying air shorten the life of both the sealants and cheaper galvanized steel. Quality metal, correctly installed, still gives you many years — but any flashing here deserves a look whenever the roof or chimney is being serviced.
Yes. Flashing is repaired from the chimney side: we lift only the shingle courses that interlace with the step flashing and seat the counter-flashing back into its joint. A full roof replacement is not required unless the surrounding decking has rotted.
As a temporary measure before a storm, sealant can buy time. As a permanent repair, no — sun breaks it down within a few seasons and the leak returns, usually with rot added. The lasting fix is metal in the correct layered arrangement, with sealant only in its supporting role.
Re-roofs sit high on the list of flashing-leak triggers we encounter. Old step flashing gets reused, or new counter-flashing gets face-sealed to the brick instead of set into the joint. We repair the transition properly and work around the new shingles without disturbing the rest of the roof.
Location and timing tell the story. Flashing leaks typically stain the ceiling tight against the chimney and appear during blowing rain, while crown and cap failures tend to show up inside the flue or firebox first. We test the full stack top to bottom so the entry point is confirmed, not assumed.
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