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Pipe Boots For Galvalume Standing Seam Roof

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Guest User
7/7/2005
I have a 5 year old galvalume standing seam roof in Colorado. A leak recently developed near a vent pipe. The pipe in question penetrates a standing seam. A flexible rubber pipe boot was used that has a pliable lead flange at the bottom that was formed around the standing seam and screwed into place. It looks like the caulk around the boot has worn away, causing the leak. The contractor that installed the roof claims this is a standard way to install a pipe that penetrates a seam and he has been doing it for years. He has offered to re-caulk the boots, at cost since the roof is 1 month beyond the 5 year warranty. Also, he won't provide a warranty on the re-caulk service, which I would really like to have since I think in another 4-5 years the caulk will need replacing. Since moving the vent pipe is not an option, what would you recommend as a proper course of action? Thanks in advance. CJ
Todd Miller
Isaiah Industries, Inc.
7/7/2005
There is a particular flashing called Dektite I believe which I think could work very well for you. Let me know if you can't find it on the web or if you do find it and it won't work for some reason.
Guest User
7/7/2005
Thanks Todd. I believe the contracter did in fact use a Dektite product. So it has an aluminum base instead of lead. However, I don't understand if it is common practice to form these boots around standing seams. I've read several articles warning against this practice, instead recommending cutting out the seam, installing a flat double-wide aluminum panel, and fastening the boot flat on the panel. So I'm trying to decide if a simple re-caulk of the boot is a reasonable solution to my problem, or if I should recommend (and pay for) a more extreme solution such as the double-wide panel approach that I just described. Thanks again for your help.
Todd Miller
Isaiah Industries, Inc.
7/8/2005
I would say that the formable flashings are more common than the other method. Either way, there is some dependence on sealant. I am curious whether there wasn't an initial problem with the material being dirty or something which led to this problem. Five years is not very long if they are using a quality butyl sealant. I would suggest removing the flashing, discarding it, cleaning up the old sealant (which will take time), and installing a new Dektite pipe flashing using a high quality butyl based sealant.
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