Hello All,
With the new super brutal pressure treated wood we have to use I was wondering about what metal flashing would be best to use. It appears the the manuf. reccomend copper or stainless flashing. I called around to every ‘real’ lumber yard in my area and none of them had any? They all had Aluminum or galv. and they acted like I was crazy for wanting anything else. If SS screws are the gold standard to build the dang decks shouldn’t we be using SS flashing also?
Is copper or SS flashing common in any areas? Am I using the wrong term or calling the wrong places?
Daniel Neuman
Oakland CA
Crazy Home Owner
Replies
Home depot and lowes sell 3 oz copper flashing in small rolls. Vinyl flashing is also available.
Thanks guys for the replies.
Seems like it must be a regional thing. It still seems to me that if you really really wanted to make sure that the PT wood would not eat your flashing that you would want to use SS flashing. Seems to me like this would be a product that the manuf. would already have out.
I stopped buy one of the closest builders supply places that said they did not have any copper flashing and did find a single roll of 6" wide copper flashing with a black adhesive on the back.
Daniel Neuman
Oakland CA
Crazy Home Owner
i use stainless we get it from our steel supplier who has a sheet metal shop they custom bend the profiles i need
SS is not a normally available flashing material around here ( New England )
copper ( 16 oz) is very common , as is lead ... both are available at almost every good hardware store or lumber yard..
other parts of the country , these materials are not seen very oftenMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I had no trouble at all getting copper flashing, but it was special order because of the fluctuating price. I bought a 100 foot long roll of 12 inch wide 16 ounce copper. The clerk looked like it was real heavy even though it wasn't that large. He said the roll was 100 pounds. That's when I realized that "16 ounce" meant it weighed 16 ounces per square foot, so a 100 square foot roll would weight 100 pounds. Duh.
Copper lately is around $2.10 a pound.
Copper is entirely compatible with the new pressure treated lumber, because copper is the main element the lumber is treated with in order to preserve it, so there is no reaction.
I don't know the price of stainless steel, but you could use thinner material, probably.
The city I lived in in Wash required all flashings, including roof penatrations, to be stainless steel. Went to the local lumber yard and they charged incredible prices. went to a local metal fabricator andd their prices were more in line. I was actually expecting to pay alot more. Turns out that this shop actually supplies the local lumber yards
The shop charged by the hour. to bent 15 pcs of 3"wall to 1 1/2" facia board was a half hour. They charged $35, not even a 1 hour minmum.
When I did my roof, the best price on sheet copper was to have it shipped out to Los Angeles from N.B. Handy Co. in Roanoake, VA.
-- J.S.
"I called around to every 'real' lumber yard in my area and none of them had any? They all had Aluminum or galv. and they acted like I was crazy for wanting anything else."
Must be a regional thing. Copper and even lead are stock items around New England. Never seen stainless.
I have taken to using PVC roll flashing, particularly for unexposed places, which is stocked at Lowes around here. Seems like a waste of copper if you can't see it.
There is also a new 'composite' material showing up all over that has a thin layer of copper with a heavy paper-like backing. Cheaper than 16 oz copper and more flexible. Marketed for PT wood. Just can't remember the brand...
Edited 1/24/2006 3:21 pm ET by csnow