McAllen Roof & Leak
Rio Grande City, Texas

Chimney and flashing leaks in Rio Grande City

Flashing fails more often than shingles do, and the chimney is where it fails first. Masonry and roof framing move at different rates, which over years opens the joint where counter-flashing is set into the mortar. Step flashing up the sides, counter-flashing into the brick, and the cricket behind the stack are the usual suspects on a leak where the roof itself looks fine. On older chimneys the mortar joint holding the counter-flashing is often the actual failure rather than the metal.

Call (706) 696-1888 Starr County

What the job involves

  • Inspection of step flashing, counter-flashing, apron and cricket
  • Assessment of the mortar joint holding the counter-flashing
  • Check of the chimney crown and cap for separate water entry
  • Photographs of the failure before work starts

Signs you need it

  • Staining on the ceiling near the chimney breast
  • Damp on the chimney breast itself, inside the house
  • Rust streaks on the shingles below the stack

Why roofs fail in Rio Grande City and Starr County

Rio Grande City is close enough to the Gulf to take the full force of tropical systems, and that is the storm profile that sets everything else. Hurricane wind is sustained for hours rather than gusting, which does something different to a roof — it works shingle tabs loose over an extended period and drives rain horizontally under courses that would shed any normal downpour. Then the heat and humidity do the slow damage. Roofs across Starr County run hot for most of the year, which ages the shingle and hardens every rubber and sealant component on it, and the humidity means that anything which gets wet inside the roof structure stays wet. A small leak here does considerably more damage over the same period than the same leak would further north, and mould becomes a problem much sooner.

Rio Grande City has a population of about 15,451, and the housing stock here sets the pattern for what fails first on a roof.

Questions about chimney and flashing leaks in Rio Grande City

Can you just seal it rather than rebuild the flashing?

Sealant buys a season at most. It is applied over a joint that is moving, so it cracks at the first full temperature cycle. Where flashing has genuinely failed, rebuilding it is the repair; caulk is a way of paying twice.

Could the water be coming through the brickwork rather than the roof?

It can. A cracked crown, a missing cap, or spalled brick lets water into the stack and it shows up inside looking exactly like a flashing leak. Worth checking both — they are different trades and different fixes.

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Describe what you are seeing

You will get a straight answer on whether Rio Grande City needs someone out today or whether it can wait — before anyone quotes you for anything.

Call (706) 696-1888
Call (706) 696-1888