[RE-wrenches] to flash or not to flash

Ray Walters ray at solarray.com
Fri Aug 7 11:24:49 PDT 2015


Hi William;

First, a sealed L foot is not a sealant only attachment system.  It has 
quite a bit of surface area beyond the hole just like a flashing, and 
has mechanical attachment through the roof to the structure (which a 
flashing often does not). I consider an L foot to be a mini flashing for 
a mini penetration.  Its relative.  A propanel screw has a 1/2" rubber 
washer for a 3/16" screw, and is accepted by the roofing industry and 
IBC.  A 2" x2"  L foot base with a 5/16" high strength lag and sealant 
is much more seal relative to the penetration. A 12" x 12" flashing is 
used for penetrations as large as 4" plumbing vents, and depends on the 
rubber Oatey boot to seal, which most of us know will dry rot in 5-10 
years.  It's accepted by the roofing industry too, so I'm not that 
impressed with the roofing industry's judgement to be honest. I do 
agree, that overlapping layers so that gravity helps shed the water is a 
good concept, but can't always be "adhered" to, especially on metal 
roofs for instance.

However, I will also mention that while I am comfortable with L feet, 
and think they do meet code; I am considering flashings on my next 
asphalt roof project.  I've made many changes to my practices over the 
years, not always because I though it was necessary, but instead to 
"keep up with the Solar Jones".

Have a good weekend,

R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760

On 8/6/2015 1:53 PM, William Miller wrote:
> Daniel:
>
> Good question, and worthy of revisiting.
>
> As a contractor and businessman, I am obligated to reduce risk 
> exposure by using best evolved practices. This requires I used modern, 
> purpose-built, approved attachment hardware. To my knowledge, these 
> are all flashed.
>
> No roofing contractor will honor a warranty on sealant-only 
> attachments. On pitched roofs, gravity is the main factor in shedding 
> rain water and flashed systems accomplish this.
>
> Thanks for bringing this up.
>
> William
>
>
>
> On Aug 6, 2015, at 9:47 AM, Daniel Young <dyoung at dovetailsolar.com 
> <mailto:dyoung at dovetailsolar.com>> wrote:
>
>> Writing the subject above, it seems like I’ve heard this question on 
>> the wrench list before, but I could not find it in my old email 
>> archives. Feel free to pint me back to the old discussion if it’s there.
>>
>> I’ve been using a flashing based roof attachment for 8+yrs now (quick 
>> mount or similar). Now we are looking at Rail-less systems  (quick 
>> rack is a good example). There is also a non-flashed rail-less 
>> racking from roof-tech http://roof-tech.us/ . I’ve always been of the 
>> opinion that simply crushing some sealant/gasket onto an asphalt 
>> shingle work fine at first (the test data from roof-tech is 
>> impressive), but would be an issue 10+yrs down the road (thermal 
>> expansion movement, freeze/thaw, etc). I can make a good waterproof 
>> seal at first by just slathering some butyl/silicone to an L-foot and 
>> cranking it down on the shingles, but that practice really 
>> disappeared 8+yrs ago.
>>
>> Maybe consider this a Poll: (to flash, or not to flash)
>>
>> With Regards,
>>
>> Daniel Young,
>>
>> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional^TM : Cert #031508-90
>>
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