Flashing failure

Flashings fail because they bridge two materials that move at different rates. Metal expands and contracts with temperature; wood and masonry do too, but differently. Over years, the sealant at flashing laps dries out, the metal corrodes, and step-flashing that was face-nailed rather than embedded under counter-flashing works loose. Any one of these failures channels water behind the shingle field. The water then travels along a rafter or the underside of the decking — often several feet from the entry point — before it drips and shows up as a stain inside the house.

On a storm claim, existing flashing failures can be a gray area. If a storm event exacerbated a marginal pre-existing condition, the claim may be partially covered depending on the policy language and how the damage is documented. We document the condition of every flashing on our inspection — before and after the date of loss where NOAA records help establish the timeline. We do not attribute a flashing leak to storm damage without evidence. What we do document carefully is flashing that was borderline before the storm and clearly failed after it — those are legitimate claim items under most NC policy interpretations.