Flashing or Caulk at Window head detail
wynnron
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Siding is now going up on my new house and I notice no flashing hanging over the edge of the head of my window. When I asked my contractor, he said he was using a high dollar silicon caulk because it would work better and wouldn’t ruin the look of my window details. He said I would have to maintain it about every 5 years. Is this an accepted practice? I never heard of not flashing the tops of windows.
Would love to hear any feedback from this knowledgable group.
Thank you!
Replies
There is a product I found called SureSill that makes PVC flashing for windows and doors and PVC sills for doors. I bought a sill and a head flashing for my patio door replacement that was CAULKED in 20 years ago and left me with rotted rim joists floor joists and subfloor....major PITA to fix. They are adjustable in size...you just cut to length and pvc weld the end caps on the flash tape over them. This is not a paid endorsement and I haven't even put them in yet but I have them in hand and I like the way they look and think they will help solve ALOT of problems. The doors sills are flat on the bottom but have a slope built in to allow for drainage. I'm guessing they have window sills as well.
Baloney. If your house is built using caulk to keep water out you're in big trouble. The absolutely worse possible caulk to use is silicone. Silcones only use is possibly in the bathroom and rarely there. Your builder is a hack. Head flashing is the only way to keep water out of your house. The head flashing should be flashed under the housewrap or the top should be sealed with butyl tape. There is no substitute. Period.
Get your builder to show you the siding manfacturers installation instructions using caulk. Maybe he'll learn something.
Hey there, If I understand you correctly, the siding is going to land on top of the window head or head trim and be caulked. This needs to be flashed and NOT caulked at all. Florida's response is dead on if he and I understand your situation. Have your contractor stop immediately and do it right. I can't imagine why he would not do this properly. It is Building 101, doesn't cost hardly anything, and doesn't take any time at all to install window flashing. This is scary
The idea that you can rely on caulk instead of flashing is total crap.
If you can get ahold of the installation instructions for the windows, they will have the details all laid out.
Lazy, corner cutting contractor.
You have a lazy, corner cutting contractor. You must flash teh tops of doors or windows. You might get away with not doing so if your winodws are tucked well up under an wide roof over hang such that no water can get ontop of your trim and sit there.
I had a house with a door on into the garage on a gable wall (little protection from rain above). I chaulked it and chaulked until i had so much chaolk up there to form a slope of chaulk all teh way from teh siding to the outter edge ofthe trime. It sill all rotted out!
My sister had a house built and they did not have flasing on their windows on a gable wall, All the trim is rotted, the shealthing is rotten and some of the siding all around and down belwo each and every window on that wall.
You need flashing!