Keeping water out of windows begins at the top

Mike’s method for head flashing is a bit surprising — peel-and-stick flashing tape does most of the work, and copper flashing protects it from UV rays.

MORE VIDEOS IN THIS SERIES

1. Self-Draining Sill Pans

2. Sill Pan Flashing Options

3. Sill Pan with Regular Peel-and-Stick

4. Sill Pan with Flexible Peel-and-Stick

5. Flashing Flanged Window Jambs

6. Flashing Pre-Cased Jambs

7. Head Flashing Windows/Doors

8. Counter-Flashing the Head

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Video Transcript:

Now, at the head, there’s a couple of different ways to treat it. What many of the manufacturers of the flashing tape will call for is to install the flashing tape in the same fashion as we installed it on the side, where you apply it from the back side. I don’t like that idea because it leaves the top edge of that casing exposed to the weather. Instead, I’m going to run a piece of flashing tape along the wall, over the head of the door, and then down the face just a little bit; then put on a metal cap flashing to cover it. I’m going to score the back of the release paper; this will be the edge that gets applied to the head of the door casing. A relief cut on the left and the right allows me to fold the flashing tape down onto the side jamb of the casing just a little bit and then onto the wall. And then I can fold it onto the face of the door casing and use my knife to score a line maybe an eighth to a quarter inch down—whatever I think the drop leg on…