Reverse-Lapped Step Flashing

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Harry Whitver

Pieces of flashing are sometimes correctly lapped over each othe… Read More Pieces of flashing are sometimes correctly lapped over each other, but incorrectly lapped over the wall’s housewrap. It often happens when roofers are asked to install the flashing after the building paper is already on the wall. The flaw can direct rain behind the flashing into the structure.

Harry Whitver

The ideal way to install step flashing is to put the vertical le… Read More The ideal way to install step flashing is to put the vertical leg of the flashing against the wall sheathing, then seal the flashing to the wall with an applied layer of peel-and-stick flexible membrane. The final step is to lap the housewrap down over this sealed joint.

Harry Whitver

If the housewrap is already in place and the step flashing has a… Read More If the housewrap is already in place and the step flashing has already been applied, here’s a fix: slit the housewrap above the step flashing and slide the peel-and-stick up under the existing housewrap, lapping it down over the existing step flashing. Cut and fit a housewrap patch to cover.

It’s a basic principle of what building science experts call “bulk water management”: rainwater that strikes a building has to be directed down and out. Gravity provides the “down”; it’s up to you to make certain of the “out.”

The problem can be trickiest when best-practice details require the interaction of two trades. That’s the case, for example, where a shingled roof meets a side wall. In production building—and even in custom work—the crews that apply the housewrap and the siding aren’t usually the same as the workers who install the roof shingles. So whose job is the step flashing at the intersection of roof and wall?

Whoever handles this joint, someone has to make sure that the materials are correctly lapped. It’s not enough for the siding material to lap down over the step flashing. The building paper or housewrap behind the siding—what the code calls the “weather-resistive barrier”—also must lap over the step flashing. Otherwise, water that reaches the paper can trickle down behind the flashing and into the structure, where it contributes to damaging rot. It’s very tough to make this part of the building dryable, so it’s worth taking extra care to ensure that the spot is drainable, so that it never needs to dry out.