Tip of the Month

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July 2009

Kick out flashings

Flashing, as defined per Wikipedia is- ...impervious material installed to prevent the passage of water into a structure from an angle or joint. "Kick out flashing" refers to the flashing that diverts water to the exterior of siding. One key area where "kick out flashing" is required is at the bottom of the juncture between the roof and a vertical sidewall. To help you understand where a kick out flashing is typically necessary, imagine you have a 1st story roof above your garage and a 2nd story roof above the house. Then assume the 1st story roof over the garage abutts the sidewall of the 2nd story. Where the 1st story roof adjoins the vertical sidewall, each course of shingles should have a sheet metal "step flashing" installed beneath the shingle that then bends vertically up behind the siding to create a water tight juncture between the roof and siding. However, the very 1st step flashing down at the gutter line (the one that ties the 1st course of shingles to the siding) must "kick out" from behind the siding at the bottom edge of the roof. Otherwise the water running down the roof at the vertical juncture where the roof adjoins siding is not diverted to the exterior of the siding, resulting in water intrusion (i.e. some water will end up running behind the siding). The worst part is, if flashings do not properly divert water to the exterior of siding, the problem is usually not immediately apparent because the water does not typically intrude into the interior of the home where it would be quite obvious. Instead, the water simply runs down the inside of the wall, causing slow gradual decay within the wall, often remaining undetected for a considerable time. However, once detected the resulting damage can be quite extensive. We find the lack of proper kick out flashing to be prevalent in our area so we strongly recommend you have us inspect the roof flashings specifically to look for proper kick out. We routinely perform this service at no charge, so why not give us a call or simply click on the "Request an estimate" page right here on our website. Also, you will find more information regarding this subject posted on our "December 2008 Tip of the Month".