While kick-out flashing has been required by code for over a decade, CopelandBEC frequently sees instances of incorrect installation or, worse yet, omission altogether. We recently worked on a condominium community where the latter yielded costly consequences.
We estimate (conservatively) that while not installing kick-out flashing may have saved the owner $500 up front, it also provided a potential pathway for water to get behind the stone veneer wall cladding. Over time, water intrusion led to corrosion of the metal lath that held this cladding to the exterior of the building, resulting in large pieces falling away from the structure and posing a significant safety risk for residents and pedestrians below. The entire stone veneer cladding system had to be removed and replaced to repair the damage and address the safety risk, this time with kick-out flashing at the roof eave-to-wall transitions.
All of these repairs cost the owner approximately $25,000.
The temporary appeal of cutting costs in this situation, as is often the case, ended up being significantly more expensive when viewed from a comprehensive, long-term perspective. Investing in the proper approach at the beginning could have delivered this owner a 50x return on investment.
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