When a homeowner in Burien or Kent calls us about a ceiling stain, they usually point up and say the roof is leaking. Technically true — but in three decades of chasing leaks across the Greater Puget Sound area, we can count on one hand the times water actually came through the middle of an intact shingle field. Shingles almost never fail in the open. Leaks come from the places where something interrupts the roof: a skylight, a chimney, a vent pipe, a wall. Every hole cut in a roof is a promise that flashing will keep it dry, and flashing is where the promises get broken.
Skylights: The Curb and the Corners
A skylight sits on a raised curb, and the flashing around that curb has to shed water on the uphill side, carry it around the corners, and release it below. The common failure modes we find:
- Cracked or shrunken sealant where the flashing meets the curb, opened up by years of expansion and contraction
- Uphill debris dams — needles and moss piling against the top of the skylight, holding standing water against the flashing until it finds a way in
- Condensation mistaken for a leak — older single-pane units sweat in our damp winters, dripping onto the drywall below with no roof failure at all
A skylight leak often shows up as a stain at the corner of the skylight well, and by the time it does, the curb framing has usually been wet for a while.
Chimneys: Step Flashing and Counter-Flashing
Chimneys are the most complicated penetration on most roofs because they need two flashing systems working together. Step flashing weaves into the shingle courses along the sides, and counter-flashing embeds into the masonry above it to cap the assembly. When we inspect chimney leaks in older Auburn and Renton homes, we typically find one of these:
- Counter-flashing that has pulled out of its mortar joint, leaving the step flashing exposed from above
- Missing or improperly lapped step flashing from a past reroof, where someone reused tired metal instead of replacing it
- A failed cricket — or no cricket at all — on the uphill side of a wide chimney, letting water and debris pond against the brick
- Deteriorated mortar and chimney caps letting water into the masonry itself, which then weeps out at the roofline and imitates a flashing leak
Vents and Pipe Boots: The Fastest Failures
Plumbing vents are sealed with a rubber or neoprene boot, and those boots age faster than anything else on the roof. Ten to fifteen years of UV exposure and freeze-thaw cycling cracks the rubber right where it grips the pipe. The resulting leak is small, steady, and lands in the attic insulation, so it can run for a year before anyone notices. Attic fans, bathroom exhaust caps, and ridge vents have their own versions of the same story — a fastener backs out, a seam opens, and water follows the fastener into the deck.
Why Carriers Call Flashing Failures “Maintenance”
Here is the part that matters for your wallet. Insurance carriers routinely classify flashing failures as maintenance issues rather than storm damage, and that means the repair — and any interior damage that follows — often comes out of your pocket. A cracked pipe boot that leaked for eight months is a hard claim to win. That is not a reason to be discouraged; it is a reason to catch these failures early, while they are inexpensive repairs instead of denied claims with soaked insulation attached.
What a Professional Flashing Inspection Covers
When our crews do a flashing inspection — included in every free roof inspection we perform — we are not glancing from a ladder. We check:
- Every pipe boot for cracking, splitting, and pull-away at the pipe
- Step flashing and counter-flashing at chimneys and sidewalls, including mortar joint condition
- Skylight curbs, corners, and uphill debris accumulation
- Valley metal and any transitions between roof planes or materials
- Sealant condition at every exposed flashing edge
- The attic side of each penetration, looking for staining, rust, and wet insulation that has not yet reached the ceiling
Get Ahead of the Gray Zone
Every leak point on this list starts as a five-minute find and a small repair. Left alone through a Puget Sound winter, each one becomes wet decking, stained drywall, and an argument with an adjuster. Premier Roofing NW has been reading these roofs for more than 30 years, and our inspections are free. Whether you are in Olympia, Gig Harbor, or anywhere across the Greater Puget Sound area, call us at (425) 247-0088 and we will go over every penetration on your roof before the rain does it for us.