Wall and step flashing repair in Vancouver, WA

Flashing is the sheet metal that bridges the gap between the roof and anything that sticks up through it or runs alongside it: walls, dormers, porch roofs tying into the house, and the roof edges themselves. Shingles cannot seal against a vertical surface, so flashing does that job. When it rusts, comes loose, or was installed wrong, water runs behind it into the wall or attic.

This page covers wall, step, headwall, apron and drip-edge flashing. Chimney flashing has its own page because it involves masonry and crickets. Flashing repair often means removing a few rows of shingles and some siding to reach the metal, replacing it with new pieces lapped in the right order, and putting everything back so the joint sheds water instead of trapping it.

The types of flashing on a typical roof

Step flashing is a series of small L-shaped pieces woven in with each course of shingles where a roof slope runs alongside a wall, such as the side of a dormer. Headwall or apron flashing is a single long piece where a roof slope ends against a wall, like a porch roof meeting the house. Drip edge runs along the eaves and rakes to guide water into the gutter. Kick-out flashing sits at the bottom of a roof-wall joint and turns water away from the siding.

Each one has a specific job and a specific way it laps with the shingles and the wall's weather barrier. Water always flows down, so every piece has to sit under the piece above it and over the piece below. When that order gets reversed, often during a siding or window job, the flashing funnels water behind itself instead of shedding it, and the damage stays hidden inside the wall for a long time.

How flashing repair is done

Real flashing repair usually means opening the joint. We remove the shingles along the affected area and, where needed, pull back the bottom courses of siding or trim. That lets us see the wall's weather barrier and the old flashing. We replace rusted or bent pieces with new metal, lap everything in the correct order, add kick-out flashing where it is missing, and then reinstall shingles and siding. You see photos of every layer.

• Remove shingles along the joint
• Pull back siding or trim where needed
• Check the wall's weather barrier for damage
• Install new step or apron flashing in order
• Add kick-out flashing at the eave end

Why caulk is not a flashing repair

A common shortcut is to run a bead of caulk along the top of the flashing or where the shingles meet the wall. It may slow a leak for a season, but caulk shrinks, cracks and pulls away under sun and cold. Worse, it can trap water that gets behind the flashing from above. We use sealant only where it belongs, as a backup on fasteners and laps, never as the main barrier.

If we open a joint and find years of caulk layered over failed flashing, we remove it, clean the surfaces and do the repair properly. Sometimes that reveals soft sheathing or rotted wall framing behind the old flashing. We show you what we find and explain what it takes to fix it, so the new flashing has a solid surface to seal against and lasts as long as the roof does.

Flashing problems after siding or window work

Many of the flashing leaks we trace started with other trades. When siding is replaced, installers sometimes cut or bend the step flashing, leave out the kick-out piece, or tuck the new siding behind the flashing instead of over it. When a window is added near a roof line, the flashing above it may not tie into the roof correctly. If your leak began after exterior work, tell us, because it points us to where to look first.