Hello, Got a question. I have a small solar panel I need to mount on my roof (for a solar powered security light connected via wire). The panel has a bracket that attaches to a surface (in this case my roof) with three roughly 1" screws. My roof is asphalt singles on top of an older wood shingled roof. My question is, how do I attach the bracket to the roof? Can I just screw right into the roof (straight through the asphalt shingles into the wood shingles)? Do I have to take care to do it over a stud or does it not matter? How do I find the stud - I'm guess there's always one near the edge? Do I goop the whole thing in caulk? Silicone or some kind of roof tar? I'm fairly handy...and can kinda guess a way that would seem pretty solid. But I just have little actual experience with roofing and, given the consequences of a mistake, I just would like to check with an expert... :)

We have a leak at the flashing where a cathedral ceiling meets a vertical wall. The roofing contractor said the flashing looked like half of a ridge vent. From that I tracked it down to an Air Vent Flash FilterVent which provides flashing and ventilation at the ridge of a cathedral ceiling. So it enhances the air flow between the soffit vent and the ridge. It's a clever looking thing, but over the years people working on the roof have stepped on it, so it is a bit crushed. In the current literature on insulating cathedral ceilings there is a real debate about the air flow issue in the ceiling. Where I have access the ceiling was insulated with fiberglass with some space for air flow from soffit to ridge. If I used ordinary flashing this would completely block flow at the ridge, but this would be cheaper and faster. Is this a big risk?