I recently repaired a stepped-flashing joint which was leaking due to the step flashing having been run UNDER the exterior plywood sheathing. Fortunately there were only eight courses of architecturals to deal with and the T-111 sheathing doesn’t have siding yet. I had to trim 1/4″ off the shingles AND flashing beneath them in order to run new flashing. However, in examining the rest of the house, I found that ALL of the stepped flashing has been run under the sheathing. There’s no choice now but to re-flash all the roof/wall joints; contractor is coming in to shingle the walls in December.
There are 65 remaining courses of shingle and flashing to knife through, as I can’t comfortably fit the jaws of snips under the shingles. For the eight courses, I used a heavy duty utility blade and a thin wooden strip along the base of the side wall as a guide. Doing it this way could easily take me a day, just to cut out the old material…does anyone have a better suggestion? I think a sawzall will not be accurate enough and I can’t think of any other tool that can get that close to the wall and also not damage things outside of the cut.
Thanks in advance.
Replies
You mght try a multimaster.
see how funny things can be...t-111 is siding in these parts.
if they are siding the house after you do you work, can you not start at the bottom and just separate the shingles with a spatula and slide in new step flashing?
side question, did they run the flashing under the deck or did they deck over something old and never flashed again? guess either way its a big ole' screw up...
Mark, I suspect that the problem is that the sheathing was installed after the shingles and is effectively sitting on top of them.
Correct that the sheathing was installed after the flashing. I am the latest carpenter to tackle this house; many have come before, including two different roofers and at least as many gcs. I am scratching my head about what happened and in what order. All I know is now I have to fix it. Will make do with shingle knife, what have you; it's not particularly difficult, just a colossal amount of frigging.
If I had to do it I would definitely have a shot at it with my MultiMaster.
Dan, I'm going to order a multimaster; like you said, they're about $40 with HF. Can you recommend blades you think will knife through the material the easiest?
Fortunately I have a little lead time and therefore have the luxury of doing this "right."
A little hard to guess -- I'd maybe start with the "wood/metal" blades, but an abrasive blade might work better, and a scraper blade might work where you just need to cut through shingle, with no metal cutting. You probably want the offset blades. And, given how abrasive shingles are, expect to go through several, especially with cheap HF blades.
The air chisel someone else suggested might be a good idea too, but I've never worked with one of those.
The Multimaster is a good tool to have in any case. I paid $400 for mine (an origiinal) and I consider I've gotten that much out of it several times over, just working on DIY projects and Habitat stuff.
HA...yeah guess that cup of coffee had not done the job this morning.
Yeah i would get some hook blades and run them up the roof...sounds like a sucky job.
good luck!
Goodness man. What the $$$$ happend? did the home owner do the work himself? is he a cheap sob and thats why he cant keep any contractors on site?
at what point do you say enough and start tearing things down to do them properly?
tuanj,
An air chisel with the sheet metal bit would cut right through that flashing.
KK
Not having used either an air chisel or multimaster, I could go either way. Which will be more versatile, long term? I'm sure either will do the job but I'm wondering how precise it is for slicing the architecturals....will it do a nice straight line with ease?
The prices are almost identical-$50 for the chisel at the Depot vs. $40 for the multi. Really, it's a question of what will I use more of later on.
Well, I've used my Multimaster for scraping vinyl flooring from the toekicks in our kitchen, cutting out blocking between joists so that wiring could get through, cutting holes in drywall for boxes, cutting wood flooring in place, cutting through toenails at the base of studs, grinding out the cracks in our basement floor so I could epoxy them (for radon sealing), cutting crown molding in place, and a number of others I've forgotten at the moment.
Multi tool is useful, but....
I can also attest to the use of my Multimaster for all the same tasks Dan has pointed out*. It excells where sawzall leaves off.
That said, I don't see the osciallating action working all that well on your thick bed of shingles. You want to be slicing perpendicular to the shingles (much as a hook blade does). I don't see how your going to get the consistant angle with the multimaster without the blade bottoming out consistently on the low side. And if you come from the top, you will burn up a load of expensive blades on the roof shingle minerals in no time.
Though I've never tried it, the air chisel (with a relatively sharp blade) sounds like a better idea. I say that because the blade motion is hammering forward in a linear motion verses "side to side" iwth the mulit-tool. Once you get perpendicular to your shingles you want to stay in that direction. They question is will the hammer action collapse the shingle edge before cutting it? Perhaps not with the wad you're cutting. Maybe best to keep a small metal grinding tool handy in order to keep the blade sharp.
*except concrete grinding. I find it a poor grinding tool in general. Certainly chasing concrete cracks is much easier (and faster) with a "v" groove diamond grinding wheel on a small right angle grinder. Chase the grinder with a shop vac nozzle to control the dust.
you'd best answer that question
tuanj wrote:
Really, it's a question of what will I use more of later on.
Shouldn't you be in the best position to answer this question?
BTW, "Multimaster" is a trademarked name for an oscillating tool made by Fein. You won't find one of those for $40 new-- anywhere. What you really want to refer to is a generic "multi" tool. Since Fein's patent has expired on their high speed oscillating tool, almost every lower end tool manufacturer makes a similar one of these now. IMO, you get what you pay for...and you will pay much more for the Fein. Again, it's a question of how much you will use it as to it's value.
Neither,
The air chisel was for slicing through the flashing. I don't think either one would be good for cutting the archys. To cut the shingles I would pop a line and start from the top cutting them with a pair of snips. Multi tool is a great addition to your toolbox. Remember to use the 20% coupon if you go to Harbor Fright.
KK
Photos?
Hi!
Can you post some photos of this particular job? I'm just curious though -- there is no requirement to, I would just like to see the challenge.
Thanks
Bob