Adding Drip Flashing to Roof Will Help Prevent Rotting Eaves
Question: When we bought our home, the termite inspector found dry-rot on the eaves, and the seller had to pay hundreds of dollars to replace the damaged boards. Now that we’re selling the house, only four years later, we’ve had another home inspection and the eaves are rotted once again. This time, it’s our turn to pay for the repairs.
When we mentioned this to our neighbors, they recalled the same thing happening when they bought their property.
Does this happen to everyone who buys a home? If so, what’s the use of making repetitious repairs every few years while doing nothing to prevent the cause? Isn’t there some way to break this costly cycle of damage and repair?
Answer: Fungus and dry-rot damage on exterior wood components is indeed common, resulting in high repair costs for the sellers of many homes throughout the country. Such damage typically turns up in the course of pre-sale termite inspections and is most often found along the eave structure at the perimeter of a roof.
The cause of rotted eave boards is excess moisture, usually the result of faulty drainage at the roof edges. Water runoff during the rainy season tends to keep the fascia and eave boards continually wet, and this promotes the growth of microorganisms that feed on wood fibers.
The best way to prevent such damage is to install drip flashing at the edges of your roof. This consists of L-shaped sheet-metal strips that extend beneath the roofing material and lap over the edge of the eaves. Drip flashing promotes roof drainage without allowing the wood members to become wet.
Unfortunately, most building codes do not require builders and roofing contractors to install drip flashing. Instead, this essential form of protection is an optional amenity left to the discretion of whoever installs the roof. Although common sense would dictate the use of drip flashing on all roofs, homes in many areas are constructed without it.
Anyone who is paying for eave repairs or the installation of a new roof should make sure the builder or contractor installs drip-edge flashing. Building a house according to code does not always ensure good quality, and the arbitrary omission of drip flashing is a definite case in point.
Drip flashing adds very little to the cost of roof installation and can prevent very costly repairs when you sell your home.
Circuits Not a Routine Part of Inspection
Q: We had our home inspected before purchase but have encountered a problem not disclosed by the inspector. After moving in, we found that the circuit breaker for the kitchen outlets would frequently trip.
Our electrician checked the problem and discovered that the kitchen appliance circuits were rated at 15 amps only. He said that 20-amp circuits are required by code. Should this problem have been found by our inspector?
A: A good case could be made for requiring home inspectors to verify that all kitchen appliance circuits are rated at 20 amps, but to date, this is not a condition typically included in home inspections. There are several reasons for this omission.
Many electric service panels, especially in older homes, lack adequate labeling of the circuit breakers. Inspectors who check these panels often have no way of knowing which breakers are wired to the kitchen circuits. Even when breakers are labeled, it is common for the labeling to be incorrect.
In the absence of sufficient labeling, the inspector would have to switch off the breakers to determine which are connected to the kitchen outlets.
If problems of any kind were to result in the process of turning breakers on and off (such as a breaker that will not reset), the inspector would be liable for the repair work. For these reasons, home inspectors do not routinely verify the capacity of kitchen circuits.
Washer’s Overflow Pan Is a Custom Item
Q: My home inspector recommended that my washing machine be equipped with an overflow pan to prevent moisture damage in case of a leak. When I tried to purchase a pan, no hardware or appliance store seemed to carry it. Where can I obtain one?
A: Overflow pans for washing machines are not supplied by stores because they are not commonly in demand. Most washing machines are installed without overflow protection because pans are not required by code.
To obtain an overflow pan, measure the width and depth of your washer. Take these dimensions to a sheet-metal shop and have a pan fabricated to order. Be sure to have a hole installed in the side of the pan for connecting an overflow pipe. That way the pan can drain to the exterior of the building, thus preventing water damage to the inside of your home.
Felt Not Required for 2nd Layer of Shingles
Q: The home we’re buying has two layers of composition shingles, and the seller assures us that the new layer is only a year old.
When the home inspector checked the roof, he found that the new shingles were installed without a layer of felt. He also found a water stain on the living-room ceiling and recommended that the roof be stripped and replaced with new shingles.
The seller says these water stains occurred before the new roof was installed, but the inspector believes the lack of felt is a serious roof defect. Is felt really that important, and what is roofing felt anyway?
A: Roofing felt is a layer of tar paper installed beneath the shingles to provide a backup waterproof membrane in case of leakage. Felt, otherwise known as underlayment, is required when asphalt shingles are installed as a first layer of roofing or when they are applied over wood shingles or a built-up roof.
Some contractors and home inspectors believe underlayment is required when second or third layers of asphalt shingles are installed, but there is no basis for this opinion in the Uniform Building Code. In these instances, the felt beneath the older shingles is regarded as adequate.
As for the ceiling stain in the living room, this may have occurred prior to installing the new shingles. If you have serious doubts about the integrity of the new roof, a second opinion should be obtained from a licensed roofing contractor. Regarding the lack of underlayment, it is simply not required for a second layer of composition shingles.
If you have questions or comments, contact Barry Stone through his Web site at https://www.housedetective.com. Distributed by Access Media Group.
