Replacement Flashing for Weatherhead

The present invention relates generally to a roofing flashing, and more particularly to a flashing for replacing the existing flashing which surrounds a weatherhead protruding through a roof and which provides electricity to a home when new roof shingles are being placed upon the home.

When new shingles are being placed upon the roof of a home, the roofers normally replace all flashing which surround, at least in part, chimneys, and pipes which protrude through the roof except for the flashing which surrounds the weatherhead which provides electricity to the home. This is so because the electrical lines which lead to the home provide obstacle to roofers in the replacement of conventional one-piece flashing on the roof, under the shingles, which surrounds the weatherhead. To remove the electrical lines leading to the home, the roofers must contact the utility company to disconnect the electrical lines before replacing the weatherhead flashing and again contacting the utility company to connect the electrical lines after the new flashing and roof is placed upon the house. Due to this inconvenience, roofers rarely replace the flashing around the weatherhead when new roof shingles are placed upon a house. The failure to replace the weatherhead flashing often causes leaks or water seepage around the weatherhead due to the deteriorated condition of the unreplaced flashing.

This invention relates to a ready-made replacement flashing for a weatherhead or other pipes which protrudes through roofs of a structure such as a house to prevent rain or water seepage around the joint between the weatherhead and the roof. The flashing of the present invention is preferably made of light weight metal or any other suitable material and of simple construction having parts adaptable to conform when assembled to any customary degrees of roof inclinations. It is prefabricated so that it can be easily and readily assembled on the job.

The flashing of the present invention includes an upper half of the flashing and a lower half of the flashing, each of which has lip portions which can be easily secured together to surround a portion of an electrical weatherhead which protrudes through the sloped roof of a structure such as a house. The flashing further includes a simple clamping mechanism for securing the two-piece flashing to the weatherhead to provide a water tight seal between the weatherhead and the flashing.

The flashing of the present invention overcomes the drawbacks and deficiencies of prior art weatherhead flashings by providing the roofer a simple, economical, easily assembled, flashing that can be adapted to existing roofs with slopes of between 15 degrees and 75 degrees without necessitating any special cutting or shaping. The replacement weatherhead flashing of the present invention allows a roofer to cut-up or destroy the old one-piece weatherhead flashing to remove it and allows the roofer to easily replace the old flashing with the improved replacement flashing without being concerned with the inconvenience of having to contact the utility company at least twice.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide the roofer with a practical weatherhead flashing adaptable to all roof pitches.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a weatherhead flashing of easily assembled construction that can be installed without the need of utilizing specialized labor or tools.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a flashing for an electrical weatherhead which allows the roofer to replace the flashing without requiring the disconnection and reconnection of electrical wires leading to the weatherhead.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the flashing of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially broken away, side elevational, view of a structure having the flashing of the present invention mounted on its sloped roof and surrounding a portion of a weatherhead protruding through the roof of the house.

FIG. 3 is an exploded, side elevational, view of the replacement flashing of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the replacement flashing of the present invention secured together and surrounding a portion of the weatherhead which protrudes through the roof of a structure, but without a clamping mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the replacement flashing of the present invention secured together and clamped to the weatherhead which protrudes through the roof of the structure.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 6--6 of FIG. 5.

With reference first to FIG. 2 of the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the replacement weatherhead flashing 22 of the present invention is thereshown on a house 10 having a roof 12, an electric meter box 14, a weatherhead 16 protruding through the roof 12, a coupling 18 at the top of the weatherhead 16, and wires 20 leading from a utility pole (not shown) through coupling 18 to the weatherhead 16 and meter box 14.

With particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, weatherhead flashing 22 comprises an upper half of flashing 24 having an upper surface 26, a lower surface 27, an upper portion or edge 28, a lower portion or edge 30 with a downwardly extending bent lip 32, a first semi-cylindrical flange 34, and a second semi-cylindrical flange 36; a lower half of flashing 38 having an upper surface 40, a lower surface 42, an upper portion or edge 44 with an upwardly extending bent lip 46, a first semi-cylindrical flange 48, and a second semi-cylindrical flange 50. When assembled to surround a portion of the weatherhead 16, as best shown in FIG. 1, a generally cylindrical upper opening 52 and a generally oblong lower opening 54 are formed in the flashing 22. As best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, a two-piece, C-shaped clamp 56, nuts and bolts 58 and a rubber gasket 60 are provided to seal the flashing 22 to the weatherhead 16 and roof 12. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the first semi-cylindrical flange 34 and second semi-cylindrical flange 36 of upper half of flashing 22 and the first semi-cylindrical flange 48 and second semi-cylindrical flange 50 of lower half of flashing 38 are secured together by spot welds (unnumbered) or any other conventional means.

The replacement weatherhead flashing 22 is placed around a section of the weatherhead 16 in the following steps:

a. The upper half of flashing 24 is first placed upon the decking (unnumbered) covered by felt (not shown) on the high side of the sloped roof 12 above the weatherhead 16 such that its first and second semi-cylindrical flanges 34 and 36 surround a section of the weatherhead 16.

b. The lower half of flashing 38 is next placed upon the decking (unnumbered) covered by felt (not shown) on the low side of the sloped roof 12 below the weatherhead 16 such that its first and second semi-cylindrical flanges 48 and 50 partially surround the weatherhead 16 and moved towards upper half of flashing 24 until its upwardly extending bent lip 46 engages behind downwardly extending bent lip 32 of upper half of flashing 24.

c. The roofer next uses a hammer to hit along the lower portion or edge 30 of upper half of flashing 24 to fasten bent lip 46 to bent lip 32, thus providing a water tight connection between upper half of flashing 24 and lower half of flashing 38.

d. The roofer then places rubber gasket 60 formed from a rectangular piece of rubber around the weatherhead 16 adjacent the upper opening 52 and places two-piece clamp 56 around the upper edges (unnumbered) of the first and second semi-cylindrical flanges 48 and 50 to seal the two-piece flashing 22 to weatherhead 16 by use of nuts and bolts 58.

As is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 3-5 of the drawings, the lower or oblong opening 54 formed by the overlapping first semi-cylindrical flanges 34 and 48 is substantially larger than the upper or generally cylindrical opening 52 formed by the upper portions (unnumbered) of the overlapping second semi-cylindrical flanges 36 and 50, thus allowing the lower or oblong opening 54 to become smaller or larger depending upon the pitch (slope) of the roof 12. The lower or oblong opening 54 is largest for a roof 12 having a slope (pitch) in the order of 15 degrees and smaller for a roof 12 having a slope (pitch) in the order of 75 degrees. The upper or generally cylindrical opening 52 will remain constant to a size slightly greater than the external diameter of weatherhead 16 irrespective to the slope (pitch) of the roof 12. These features permit the replacement flashing 22 of the present invention to be adaptable to all roof pitches.

The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustration, explanation, and description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Modifications, variations and adaptations of this embodiment will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and they may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.