"rusty screws are a nightmare."
Yeah, learned that lesson the hard way myself. Stainless isn't cheap, but it's worth every penny in the long run. Glad you caught it early—your neighbor won't let you forget this one anytime soon though...
- Stainless is solid, but I've seen coated screws hold up pretty well too.
- Had a client last year who went stainless everywhere, then cheaped out on washers—guess what failed first...
- Curious, did you check your flashing while you were up there? Rusty screws usually mean other surprises lurking nearby.
Good call on the flashing—rusty screws are usually just the tip of the iceberg. Last summer, I replaced some screws on my metal roof edging and thought I was good to go... until I noticed a suspicious stain near the chimney flashing. Turned out water had been sneaking in for months. Ended up redoing all the flashing around there. Stainless screws held up great, but lesson learned: always double-check those hidden spots while you're at it.
Had something similar happen a couple years back. I noticed a tiny drip in the attic after a storm, figured it was just a loose screw or two. Climbed up, replaced a few rusty screws with stainless, thought I'd fixed it. Nope... next rainstorm, same drip. Turned out the flashing itself was slightly warped—barely noticeable unless you really looked close. Ended up pulling everything off, reshaping it carefully, and sealing it back down step by step. No leaks since then, but man, these roof issues always seem to have hidden layers.
Yeah, roof leaks are sneaky like that. Had a similar issue myself—thought it was just a quick caulk job around the chimney, but nope, ended up being a whole weekend project. Honestly though, reshaping flashing sounds pretty intimidating... did you find it tricky to get it back into shape without damaging it further? I'm always hesitant to mess with metal parts too much, especially since replacements aren't exactly cheap these days.
