Seattle Siding – More to metal flashing than you might think.

Seattle Siding? – metal flashing is an integral part of the envelope

When it comes to Seattle siding and metal flashings, most people think of the bent metal they buy at home depot While, that is metal flashing, it only scratches the surface of what is needed to do a proper Seattle siding or replacement window job In the Pacific Northwest rain can go more directions than just down Tight seals and impenetrable barriers are needed at the most vulnerable areas on a building.

Seattle siding flashing should slope away from the building

When you put flashing over a window or on any horizontal surface you want that flashing to direct water away from the home That’s why we at Seattle siding find it a little frustrating that the home improvement stores carry flashings that are bent at 90 deg With a 90 deg bend you have an equal opportunity for the piece to slope to the house, away from the house or not at all Having the flashing bent with a 100 deg angle guarantees it will slope away from the house at least 5 deg Because of this Seattle siding usually spend the extra money to have my flashings custom made by a metal shop.

The flashing shown here is a “corner boot” As you can see its fully soldered and made for an outside corner Without this custom piece of flashing the outside corner of a belly band would be very difficult to waterproof and would likely rely on sealant These flashings are always custom and require a little drafting knowledge to get them right The one shown here is quite simple and they can also get quite complicated.

If you have any questions for Seattle siding on metal flashings don’t hesitate to contact me.