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WHAT IS KICK OUT FLASHING:
The exterior of a house presents plenty of opportunity for
leaks. A common problem area is the point where the gutter on a
single-story roof eave dies into a two-story wall. Roofers or
siding contractors often install step flashing that allows roof
water to slip behind the gutter and get behind the siding and
even the housewrap.
Omitting the needed kickout flashings almost always leads to
major damage inside the wood framing behind the exterior
cladding. Sometimes this damage is totally concealed until the
exterior is opened up, and other times, the damage is blatantly
obvious, even when viewed from across the street.
Kickout flashings are used where a lower roofline terminates
against a vertical wall. The kickout is installed above the rain
gutter and/or drip edge flashing where the roof meets a vertical
wall. It kicks out rain water and diverts it away from the lower
wall. Without a kickout flashing, the water misses the gutter
and runs in behind the siding and gets trapped inside the wall.
Missing, or incorrectly installed, kickout flashings are often
the source of major structural, mold, and rot damage. |
