What is a roof cricket?

A roof cricket, also called a saddle, redirects roof runoff around the uphill side of a chimney or other roof penetration. Tehama County’s 2022 CRC R903.2.2 handout covers penetrations over 30 inches wide. For a roofing bid, establish the diverter’s location and covering as well as the chimney flashing.

InstaBids is an AI-run marketplace for homeowners and property managers: describe a home job once, by chat or through your own AI assistant, add photos, and get multiple written quotes on the same scope, compared apples to apples, with no phone calls or home visits before you pick.

By InstaBids editorial team with AI research agents. Updated 4 November 2026

What this means for your home project

Compare the chimney dimension shown in your roofing proposal with Daly City’s greater-than-30-inch rule, measured perpendicular to the slope; ask which local rule applies to your home. (source)
Request a written cricket covering specification that names sheet metal or the same material as the roof covering. Source: Daly City, read 2026-11-04.
For a brick chimney, ask for a drawing showing counterflashing in the mortar joints and its overlap over base and step flashing. Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Building America Solution Center, read 2026-11-04.
Use the roofer’s photos or proposed roof detail to locate the diverter on the uphill side of the chimney. Source: Tehama County, read 2026-11-04.

Describe it onceBy chat, or through your own AI assistant, and add photos.
Post it and send itContractors bid in writing on that scope.
Compare line by lineEvery quote is written against the same scope.
You chooseContact details stay hidden until you pick and they confirm.

For your AI assistant

MCP connector · REST API · plain HTML

Hand any of these to your assistant and it can help you write this job's request; you send the request yourself. What you type in the job box above goes into the prompt these buttons carry. The connector asks you to sign in to your InstaBids account the first time.

MCP connector URLhttps://instabids.ai/api/agent/mcp
Agent API (OpenAPI)https://instabids.ai/openapi.json
Start-request linkhttps://instabids.ai/intake?from=glossary-roof-cricket&page_type=glossary&job=Roof+cricket+and+chimney+flashing+work+for+my+home&utm_source=us&utm_medium=page&utm_campaign=glossary
Prompt for any AI, with your job

Open it in your assistant

Add InstaBids as a connector

Every page is plain HTML. Steps for every assistant: add to your assistant.

Are Roof Crickets Necessary?

In Daly City, ask the roofer to document the chimney measurement before deciding whether your reroof can omit the diverter. “A cricket or saddle shall be installed on the ridge side of any chimney or penetration greater than 30 inches wide as measured perpendicular to the slope.” (source)

What materials are used to build a roof cricket?

For a Daly City reroof, name the proposed cricket covering in the written scope so you can compare the two permitted choices. “Cricket or saddle covering shall be sheet metal or of the same material as the roof covering.” (source)

How do you flash the cricket-to-chimney junction?

For brick chimneys, request a drawing of counterflashing—the metal tucked into mortar—so the written scope shows how water leaves the junction. “The metal flashing consists of three elements – a base flashing, a step flashing, and a counterflashing.” Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Building America Solution Center, read 2026-11-04. “Counterflashing is embedded into the mortar joints of the brick layer and overlaps the base flashing and the step flashing, completing the waterproofing transition connecting the brick layer to the fully adhered roof membrane underlayment (Figure 1 and Figure 2).” Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Building America Solution Center, read 2026-11-04.

Can a missing roof cricket cause water damage?

Yes—the Tehama County handout connects the diverter with keeping storm runoff out of the building, so include drainage at the chimney in a leak assessment. “To prevent storm water running down the roof from entering the building at chimneys or penetrations greater than 30" wide the code calls for a cricket or saddle to re-direct the water around the penetration or chimney.” (source)

How tall should a chimney cricket be?

Use the project’s applicable sizing rule; Connecticut’s 2016 training commentary illustrates Table R1003.20 with a dimensioned example, rather than one height for every chimney. “Table R1003.20 establishes the height of chimney crickets as depicted in Figure R1003.20.” Source: Connecticut Department of Administrative Services, read 2026-11-04. “For example, a cricket installed at the face of a chimney that is 4 feet wide (1219 mm) on a 6:12 roof slope, would need to be 1 foot high (305 mm) (1/4 of 4 feet).” Source: Connecticut Department of Administrative Services, read 2026-11-04.

Can a chimney cricket be added to an existing roof?

Yes—DOE includes existing-home reroofing in its guidance, so ask whether the proposed chimney work includes redirecting uphill runoff as part of the roof replacement. “The guidance is applicable to both new construction and the re-roofing of existing roof assemblies.” Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Building America Solution Center, read 2026-11-04. “Where sloping roofs intersect the upper vertical surface of the brick layer enclosing the chimney flue, a cricket or saddle flashing should be installed to redirect rainwater that is draining down the roof slope around the chimney (Figure 3).” Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Building America Solution Center, read 2026-11-04.

Sources

Re-roof informational handout — Daly City; published 2024-06; read 2026-11-04.
Chimneys Connected to Roof Structure — U.S. Department of Energy, Building America Solution Center; read 2026-11-04.
Crickets and Saddles — 2022 code sections — Tehama County; published 2022 code edition; read 2026-11-04.
Masonry Chimneys & Fireplaces — 2016 training commentary, page 42 — Connecticut Department of Administrative Services; published 2016-02-25; read 2026-11-04.