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Flashing helps protect your roof from leaking but, from time to time, the nails that fasten flashing work loose or the flashing material pulls away from seams and joints. Check the flashing when you clean your gutters and check the condition of your roof shingles.
Look carefully for loose nails and other holes as well as the seals at the edges of the flashing. Roofing cement and caulking can become dry, cracked, and crumble away, exposing joints to the elements. It is a simple matter to reseal the flashing and much less trouble than patching and painting water-stained walls and ceilings!
New flashing can look conspicuously shiny, so you may want to paint it or touch up existing flashing to match the roof. Use a stiff brush and solvent to remove flaking paint, corrosion, and dirt, but keep the solvent away from asphalt shingles because it will dissolve them. Use a zinc-based primer and then spray on two or more light coats of rust-preventative metal paint.
Even galvanized metal flashing corrodes after extended exposure to rain and sun. Prime flashing and paint with rust-inhibiting metal paint to help it last longer. Choose a color that will blend with the roof.
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