Kickout flashing

Home inspectors are hired to determine if a particular home has any major flaws or safety concerns.  Sometimes though, it is a little defect that can cause one of those major flaws down the road.  One example is a kickout flashing; or rather the absence of a kickout flashing. 
I will use a shingled roof as an example but other roof coverings have similar issues. 

When a house has a dormer or the roof meets a wall, there will be flashings interwoven with the shingles going up the wall.  These flashings are commonly called "step flashings."  In the case of a dormer the bottom step flashing has to lap on top of the last row of shingles in front of the dormer so the water will not be directed under the shingles.  No problem so far.

What happens in a situation where the wall continues past the eave of the roof?  If the first piece of step flashing is installed just like every other one, once the siding is installed, some of the water that flows from flashing to flashing will end up behind the wall siding and can cause rot and mould.  The bottom piece of flashing has to "kick out" from the wall like in the diagram. It is this small detail that is often overlooked. A home inspector should look for details like this and report its absense. If your home inspector found this during the course of his inspection he has more than paid his way for you.

Submitted by Bert, for Benchmark Home Inspection Services.  Your Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph and Orangeville area home inspector.