Weatherization tech Scott Phillips cuts coated aluminum coil stock flashing to size for air-sealing a chimney chase on the job with Upright Frameworks (Portland, Maine).
Weatherization tech Scott Pillips air-seals a framing joint with…
Weatherization tech Scott Pillips air-seals a framing joint with gun foam before starting to install air-sealed metal flashing over the gap between the brick chimney and the wood-framed chimney chase.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Phillips measures the length of the chimney chase opening.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Cutting a piece of coasted aluminum coil stock flashing to lengt…
Cutting a piece of coasted aluminum coil stock flashing to length.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Phillips trims a piece of flashing to width using Cutco hardened…
Phillips trims a piece of flashing to width using Cutco hardened steel shears.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Phillips displays his Cutco Su per Shears. "I can cut anyth…
Phillips displays his Cutco Su per Shears. "I can cut anything with these," he says. "I can cut a penny in half. They're like 85 dollars."
Ted Cushman/JLC
Phillips snips a corner off the strip of flashing to create room…
Phillips snips a corner off the strip of flashing to create room for a cable that leads out of the chimney chase into the attic.
Ted Cushman/JLC
To protect data cabling from damage from the sharp edges of the …
To protect data cabling from damage from the sharp edges of the cut flashing, Phillips bends scraps of flashing over the cut edges at locations where the flashing may touch the wires.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Working at close quaters, Phillips wiggles a piece of metal flas…
Working at close quaters, Phillips wiggles a piece of metal flashing into place at the opening where the brick chimney penetrates the ceiling framing. With the roof sheathing removed and the ceiling exposed from above, according to Phillips, this is a relatively easy situation: often, the chimney-to-framing gap is less accessible.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Working by feel as much as by sight, Phillips eases a strip of m…
Working by feel as much as by sight, Phillips eases a strip of metal flashing into place between the chimney and the framing.
Ted Cushman/JLC
After noting the location of some data cable by feel, Phillips b…
After noting the location of some data cable by feel, Phillips bends a piece of metal around the sharp edge of the flashing in order to protect the wire insulation from damage.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Phillips works the metal into position in the small gap.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Phillips screws the metal flashing down onto the chimney chase f…
Phillips screws the metal flashing down onto the chimney chase framing.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Phillips applies high-temperature sealant caulk to the underside…
Phillips applies high-temperature sealant caulk to the underside of a piece of flashing before setting the flashing in place. To achieve a good seal, caulking is installed between the metal and the wood framing, as well as at the joint between the metal and the brick chimney.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Phillips sets another screw to fasten the metal flashing securel…
Phillips sets another screw to fasten the metal flashing securely to the ceiling framing.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Field expedient: to extend his driver bit to the length required…
Field expedient: to extend his driver bit to the length required to reach the awkward location, Phillips attaches several magnetized bit holders together and secures them with a temporary wrap of aluminum foil.
Ted Cushman/JLC
Once all the flashing has been screwed into position, Phillips c…
Once all the flashing has been screwed into position, Phillips caulks the joints between the flashing and the brick chimney with high-temperature sealant.
Portland, Maine-based Upright Frameworks is one of the region’s most successful home performance contractors. A jump-start from the federal stimulus package in 2009 helped the company get on its feet; now, a steady stream of referrals keeps the weatherizing work coming, along with major remodeling and new construction jobs.
Doing competent, effective work on the weatherizing end helps the company build a strong reputation that pays off in the form of referrals and repeat customers for larger jobs, says company founder Josh Wojcik. This month, JLC stopped by an Upright Frameworks weatherizing job in Durham, Maine to see the action on site.
The job was a classic home performance repair: the existing roof had been constructed without an effective air barrier between the occupied second floor and the roof above. Warm, moist air escaping into the unvented roof from below had made the house expensive to heat — and was also damaging the roof. The low-pitched, almost flat roof structure made access to the space difficult. But in any case, the Advantech roof sheathing, although only about ten years old, was covered in mildew and showing signs of moisture damage. So the customer elected to remove the roof sheathing and replace it — which provided easier access for the crew to carefully air-seal the second floor ceiling, and to install a combination of dense-blown and loose-fill cellulose in the roof. At the same time, the crew would install gable end vents and ridge vents.
With the roof off, Upright Frameworks weatherizing tech Scott Phillips took advantage of the situation to air-seal the brick chimney chase from above (see slideshow). It was tricky work at close quarters, but as Phillips said: “We don’t normally get the opportunity for it to be this easy.”
If you’re in doubt about the importance of this particular air leak, consider this: at one point, when Phillips’ driver bit fell out of his DeWalt cordless driver, the bit fell through the chimney chase all the way to the floor of the basement, thirty feet below. Until it was sealed up with metal flashing and high-temperature caulk, the air leak at the chimney opening represented a superhighway for air from every floor of the house to rise into the attic unimpeded.
