Step flashing required?

[MJ Inspections]

What's everyone's opinion about step flashing at brick/stone interfaces? The used one solid piece of flashing. I really don't have a problem with it but I was curious if I should have a problem with it and if you all note as repair in your reports?

thanks,

Mark J.

[Gunnar Alquist]

Hi Mark,

I guess I'm confused. Why would you have step flashing at a horizontal roof/wall connection and how would you install step flashing on a standing seam metal roof?

[MJ Inspections]

That was what I was thinking but an fellow inspector said it was needed, 'specially on a roof interface with a brick sidewall.

[Mike Lamb]

Mark, that flashing is probably okay.

Step flashing is used on shingled roofs which this is not. You would not use step flashing in a straight horizontal application anyway.

These diagrams will show you some basic roofing and flashing details. You need to start reading up on how shingled roofs are applied. It is not the same as a metal roof or the roofing materials used on flat roofs. It is all different. Every manufacturer will have instructions as to how their product should be installed. You can look it all up online. It is not something that roofers are supposed to make up as they go along although they often do. It's our job to catch that.

Stop getting roofing advice from that fellow inspector. He's going to make you look stupid.

Some good stuff in here: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/informationalkits/infokit_0014_Roofs_A535.pdf

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[brianmiller]

Mark,

is this what you are refering to? this photo shows the proper installation of counter flashing installed over the step flashing , which is underneath. I'm okay with this setup.

[Don Putnam]

Hello Mark,

Step flashing is installed at sidewalls, but not at head walls as shown in your photo, and either base flashing or counter flashing can be stepped. The continuous counter flashing shown in your photo is often inserted into a saw-cut reglet, or slot cut into the brick. When inspecting a condition as shown in your photo you might check to verify that the counter flashing is securely attached and properly sealed. You can check this by visual inspection of the sealant bead and by pressing against the top edge of the counter flashing where it enters the reglet. The sealant should not be split or pulling loose, and the metal flashing should not move in and out of the joint as you press against it.

As illustrated in the photos attached below, the saw-cut reglet is often too shallow and the counter flashing is often not anchored securely. A well-constructed condition requires the following:

The reglet should be approx 1/4" wide, not 1/8", and it should be at least one full inch deep, and preferably 1 1/2".
The reglet should be washed out to remove all dust and allowed to dry thoroughly.
A small amount of sealant should applied inside the reglet and the counter flashing should be inserted into the sealant to the full depth of the reglet.
Inside the reglet the terminal edge of the counter flashing should fold back over to form a 'turn-back'.
The counter flashing should be secured to the wall using masonry anchors at 16"-18" O.C., or by small strips of lead rolled up and jammed into the reglet as hidden wedges.
A final surface bead of sealant should be applied.


And Mark, it's darned seldom you will find the above procedures followed, so it's a good habit to always check for and report poorly installed counter flashing.

In the condition shown in your photo the counter flashing is almost certainly reglet-mounted. It is pre-finished metal, which is slick as Teflon, so sealant doesn't bond well to it anyway, and there are no apparent fasteners to hold it securely in place. So with slick metal free to move it's a failure prone condition. Leakage at this condition would show up in the window area and could result in a customer looking around for someone to make a claim against.

Regards,
___________________________
Don Putnam
Austin, Texas
www.RoofConsulting.com

I am actually younger and better looking than I appear


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[John Kogel]

Mark, thanks for asking lots of questions. You should be looking for some real training before you take on inspections. Say something incorrect in a report in this business and you can blow your career before it even starts.

18 people have viewed your profile since you joined. Nobody has viewed mine. (:() Just saying.

[Chris McIntyre]

The reglet should be approx 1/4" wide, not 1/8", and it should be at least one full inch deep, and preferably 1 1/2".
The reglet should be washed out to remove all dust and allowed to dry thoroughly.
A small amount of sealant should applied inside the reglet and the counter flashing should be inserted into the sealant to the full depth of the reglet.
Inside the reglet the terminal edge of the counter flashing should fold back over to form a 'turn-back'.
The counter flashing should be secured to the wall using masonry anchors at 16"-18" O.C., or by small strips of lead rolled up and jammed into the reglet as hidden wedges.
A final surface bead of sealant should be applied.


And Mark, it's darned seldom you will find the above procedures followed, so it's a good habit to always check for and report poorly installed counter flashing.




This raised a couple of questions for me.
While agree this would be a preferred way of installing counter flashing, what is it based on?
IMHO, Calling it wrong because it doesn't meet this criteria could cause problems if it's not based on code or manufacture installation instructions.

Also I only have the 2006 IRC on hand and R905.2.8.4 says flashing against vertical sidewalls shall be by the step flashing method. Is there something different in the 2009 or 2012 code?

[Don Putnam]

This raised a couple of questions for me.
While agree this would be a preferred way of installing counter flashing, what is it based on?
IMHO, Calling it wrong because it doesn't meet this criteria could cause problems if it's not based on code or manufacture installation instructions.

Also I only have the 2006 IRC on hand and R905.2.8.4 says flashing against vertical sidewalls shall be by the step flashing method. Is there something different in the 2009 or 2012 code?

Chris, I should have worded that better. Thanks for pointing this out. The method I outlined produces a reglet-mounted counter flashing that will stay in place and stay waterproof for most or all of the life of the roof. It is, however, not necessarily a standard by which all others should be compared. I meant my comments to illustrate a secure, permanent flashing installation, and did not mean to imply that any not meeting that standard should be reported as "wrong".

The inspector should inspect the condition shown in the original poster's photo to check that the flashing is not loose and the sealant is not failing. I would only report it if there is a problem, and would not make mention of it at all if it is not a problem. If it is in good condition I would also photo-document that for my permanent file. That way, if it fails at a later date I have proof that it looked OK at the time of my inspection.

______________________
Don Putnam
Austin, Texas
www.RoofConsulting.com

[ROBERT YOUNG]

What's everyone's opinion about step flashing at brick/stone interfaces? The used one solid piece of flashing. I really don't have a problem with it but I was curious if I should have a problem with it and if you all note as repair in your reports?

thanks,

Mark J.
There is no brick 90% abutment wall to step flash.
The inspector must not be complete with brick nor roofing flashing IMO.
We all learn.

If anything it would be the apron flashing.

Think of that wall as the lowest or downstream portion of a chimney and the tin awning a sloped shingled roof.


The start to applying chimney flashing is the apron or "apron flashing." Then the step or sizer flashings and counter flashing. lastly the head wall flashing or if 30" inch wide, a cricket.
Installed to act as a plane transition. A vertical line of clay brick, plumb line onto a 135% angled roof deck awning that was metal roofed.

Sorry I came to the thread late.
I have installed metal flashing for over 2 decades.