I have question. is there any way to replace the flashing without lifting the siding? The flashing is an L-shaped steel plate at the corner joining the siding and the slanted shingled roof. It's a big deal removing the siding. I'd like to avoid removing it. Here's a few pictures of the situation.

thanks for any advice in advance.

diyjones

 

With the type of siding you have, it can't be done without doing a lot of irreparable damage. Additionally, I don't think much of that flashing to begin with... and I'm talking about the size of the flashing, not the fact that it's rusted through. The width of flashing that rests on the roof is not very wide, which wouldn't give me confidence on a long run of shingles. As water runs down a roof it can fan out under the shingles, or run along the top of a shingle at any point. Individual step flashing would be much better in that area.

You might be able to loosen the siding just enough that you could slip these individual step shingles under the siding as you shingle. They way you do this is to lay a shingle on top of that flashing, then bend a 5x7 (or larger if metric) piece of square flashing at a 90 degree angle, and slip it under the siding. You position the step flashing so that it is even with the top of the shingle each time, so that when you are done, the step shingles are all hidden. No caulking is needed when you are finished, because each row has been flashed individually.

Another idea would be to snap a chalkline along the bottom edge of the siding, up about 4 1/2" from the roof, and cut along this line with a skilsaw, being careful to only cut deep enough that you cut through the siding. Once the siding is removed, you'd remove the flashing, install a new one, install a 7/8" dripcap up tight against the bottom of the siding, and then install some rough cedar 1x4 or similar under the drip cap, and over your flashing.

Of course, if you plan to replace the siding eventually, now might be the time to do it. So you could think about that option too.