Leak on top of chimney

Hello Everyone.

Wanted to post a question to the group.

I've been chasing a water leak for about 4 years now. Had various roofing companies come out and none have been able to find it.

It only leaks when it rains and blows from the south.

Today, I spent the whole day on the roof soaking down different areas until I finally got it to leak.

The roof is fine, the flashing is fine. The leak is coming from the top of the chimney chase.

I have attached a picture. It seems that the water flows off the top of the chimney and then seeps up under the bottom side of the 6" trim piece at the top of the siding. I have drawn an arrow on the picture.

This only happens with the wind is blowing the water up in back of this trim piece.

Is there any way to fix this simply?? I know, simple is a relative term......

The last guy tried smearing Henry's all over.

Here is what I was thinking. I could add additional trim pieces over the existing but use 1x10 or 8 instead of the 1x6 that is there. I would seal in back of the new 1x10 so that water could not wick up the backside. I could screw into the existing trim but use a good waterproof adhesive behind it.

Any recommendations?????

Thinking I should have a professional do this. Mostly because of the height above ground.

Roofer or Siding specialist????

My suggestion would be to first inspect the metal cap on top of the chimney and check and see if when the cap was installed, did they nail through the top of the cap. I see this a lot. The usual process is to put caulking on top of the nail heads and silicone caulk is usually what is used. Silicone is a great caulk, but not for exterior applications. The caulking will fail and you end up with leaks around the nail head.

Second, see how much over hang you have on the cap, there should be a minimum of 3" on the side. When we install caps we secure them with fasteners in the side of the cap, not the top.

It's not a difficult fix, but if you are not comfortable on the roof, your best bet would be contact a roofer or siding installer who has access to a metal break.

Oh, and welcome to House Repair Talk!

We see this sometimes on mountain side houses when the winding coming up the hill. Most everthing is designed with the idea that rain only comes down The keyword is overkill anything you can find and expect it to show up again somewhere else as water will always find a way.