What is flashing anyway? We get asked this question all the time. Put simply, flashing is a material, usually sheet metal, used to join two dissimilar assemblies in construction in a water tight manner. Not simple enough? Flashing is waterproof stuff to connect different things on the exterior of your home. A great example of flashing is the metal ‘drip cap’ used on top of most windows. That flashing connects your window to your siding system. In exterior construction we use flashings of all types and designs.
In the case of chimney flashing problems in Minnesota, the culprits usually fall into a few basic categories: Saddles, steps and kickouts. When chimney flashings fail, catastrophic results can occur.
Saddles (aka, ‘crickets’) are sheet metal fabrications used to encourage water to flow away from the back side of chimneys. They force water to go left or right of the chimney. Saddle flashings are sometimes quite easy to fix. Other times we have to dig into the chimney framing and roof systems to achieve a professional outcome.
Chimney step flashing repair in Minneapolis is often a simple matter of a few hours. Other times, as in the situation shown in this Kuhl Case Study, chimney flashing repairs are more intensive. Addressing bad step flashing on a field stone chimney is one of the more difficult projects but we have done it many times.
Here is a great link to a Kuhl Case Study on kickout flashings. Kickouts are one of the most common things home inspectors find missing when they review homes for sale in Minnesota. We install hundreds of kick out flashings in Minnesota every year for this very reason.
