On Nov 11, 8:08*pm, wrote:
On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:37:08 -0800 (PST), coloradotrout

wrote:
In all those photos you see the same theme -- shingles atop flashing
and nails through both. * I'm going to take some more photos as I
recall seeing rows of nails in a few other places. *Uuuughhhhh.

A properly installed "step flashing" can be almost totally invisible.
If a roofer puts a roof on my house and the flashing along a wall is
visible he'll be taking the roof off and doing it over again.
Only "root flashing" should be exposed (bottom of a vertical wall
where it meets a horizontal roof surface)
At least that's how it's done up here in the "great white north" where
ice dams are a fact of life.
Lots of roofing cement is used installing "step flashing" - with no
exposed nails and no "exposed" roofing cement
On "root flashing" it IS occaisionally necessary to have an exposed
nail go through flashing, in which case it is liberally coated with
fibrated roofing cement - which usually outlasts the shingles.

I have never heard of "root flashing" for anything roof related. I
did a quick Google and that word, I do not think it is what you think
it is. Check it and see. The only places that "root flashing" showed
up in a search is where the OCR misinterpreted 'roof flashing'.

The flashing you are referring to is called, on both sides of the
pond, apron flashing. A chimney has apron flashing bridging the gap
from the roof to the chimney at the bottom edge of the chimney, step
flashing running up along the sides, and a counter flashing which is
tucked into the mortar joints and wraps down to cover the top of the
apron and step flashing.

There is some rather heated discussion between the two camps on how
step flashing is covered by roof shingles. Some say to run the
shingles tight to the wall, and others swear there has to be a gap.
If the flashing is installed correctly and of sufficient size, either
will work and not present problems.

There is never a situation on new construction where a nail has to be
placed through the flashing and the nail head left exposed. Cleats or
clips are the standard way to deal with the problem. If a roofer
doesn't know how to install a cleat, he isn't a roofer, no matter what
he does to earn money.

R