#40 – Roof Flashing: Lineal vs. Step Flashing Explained

May 3, 2017 | Filed under: Metal Roofing 101 Series, Roofing Help Videos, Roofing Installation, Roofing Materials

I recently had an interesting conversation with a contractor who has installed traditional roofing for many years. He was familiar with a concept called step flashing that is used with many types of roofing. Step flashing may be used alongside a chimney or wall where the roof intersects it. Step flashing is a series of short 90-degree angle metal flashing pieces that go up the wall or chimney and extend out onto the roof, often being interlaced with each course of roofing.

Metal Roofs and Step Flashing

This is not the norm with metal roofing and this contractor was quite surprised when I told him that. Rather than use these series of small flashings, metal roofs rely upon lineal flashings, often formed in 10 or 12-foot lengths. A lineal flashing does not have all of the little joints where water, and especially water impeded from traveling down the roof by ice or snow, can work its way into the flashing system and enter the structure.

Additionally, because of the linear design of vertical seam metal roofs and the interlocking nature of most metal shingles, step flashing would trap the water on a metal roof rather than return it to the surface of the roof the way it does with other roofing materials.

todd Miller

has spent his entire career in the metal building products manufacturing industry. He is president of Isaiah Industries, an organization recognized as one of the world’s leading metal roofing manufacturers. Todd is currently Vice President of the MRA (Metal Roofing Association) and a Past Chair of MCA (Metal Construction Association). Through his website, he strives to raise the bar on standards and practices to provide property owners with the best possible products for successful roofing projects.

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One response to “#40 – Roof Flashing: Lineal vs. Step Flashing Explained”

  1. Casey says:

    How many LF does a bundle of step flashing cover after overlap?

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