Installing A Roof Cricket
What Is A Roof Cricket?
Before installing a roof cricket you first should understand what it is, and why it is important.
A roof cricket is a ridge structure, designed to divert water on a roof. Roof crickets are found on the high side of a chimney, or when one roof meets another. The roof cricket is normally the same pitch as the rest of the roof, but not always. Roof crickets can be covered with metal flashing or with the same material as the rest of the roof. Crickets are also often referred to as “saddles” in this context.
Installing A Roof Cricket
When the chimney is at the bottom of a roof slope or has roof sloping into it I always install a cricket. Below are some pictures of a roof cricket I installed.
Roof Crickets Prevent Roof Leaks
Chimneys are notorious for leaking, and the culprit is almost always the sheet metal flashing. It doesn’t take an expert to spot problems—simply look for water-stained ceilings or other telltale signs of leaking in the vicinity of your chimney.
Because chimneys are such a potential trouble spot, consider installing a roof cricket, as well as, inspect them once every year or two. When inspecting; look for loose or missing flashing and cracks in the masonry. Small cracks can be sealed with caulk designed to repair masonry, larger cracks or missing mortar should be re-pointed.
How To Build A Roof Cricket
This chimney pictured below is on a Main Street Concord house. A leak caused rot roof sheathing rot, ant infestation and plaster damage in a bedroom below
We determined the cause of the leak to be several things; lack of an adequate waterproof underlayment [rubber ice and water shield], fatiguing lead chimney flashing and the lack of a roof cricket.
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