Membrane goes further up the north slopes
A north-facing slope in the valley holds snow for days after a south slope has cleared, and the cycle of thawing by afternoon and freezing again overnight drives meltwater back up under the courses. The code minimum for ice-and-water membrane is a floor, not a specification written for this.
On north slopes, shallow pitches and every valley we run it further than the minimum. It is a modest line on the quote and it is the difference between a roof that leaks in February and one that does not.
Hillside roofs move water sideways before they move it down
Split-levels and cross-gables on the hillsides throw long valleys that carry the runoff of two planes into one channel. That is where the volume is, and it is where a woven valley on a steep run eventually gives way.
We line those in metal rather than weaving them, and we look at where the water actually lands — a valley discharging onto a lower roof or past the end of a gutter is a drainage problem the covering cannot fix on its own.
Pre-war chimneys need cut flashing, not sealant
The older brick stock through the city neighbourhoods carries chimneys that were flashed once and sealed repeatedly since. Sealant on brick is a maintenance material with a life measured in a few years, and for every one of those years it looked fine from the ground.
A replacement is the moment to cut fresh counterflashing into the mortar joint and step the base flashing properly. If the mortar itself is spent, we say so before the roof goes on rather than after.
What the east-side ranches have under the shingles
The post-war ranches and split-levels through Blue Ash, Kenwood and Madeira often carry plank decking rather than plywood — boards with gaps between them, which hold a nail differently and are not always sound at the eaves after decades of freeze-thaw.
Nobody knows which until the old covering is off. That is why the quote says what happens if boards need replacing, rather than leaving it as a conversation in the middle of the job.
