TL;DR
A sill pan is a waterproof tray, formed from rigid PVC, metal, or flexible flashing membrane, installed across the bottom of a window or door rough opening before the unit is set. It catches any water that gets past the unit and drains it out over the water-resistive barrier instead of into the framing below.
What it means
A sill pan is a waterproof tray, formed from rigid PVC, metal, or flexible flashing membrane, installed across the bottom of a window or door rough opening before the unit is set. It catches any water that gets past the unit and drains it out over the water-resistive barrier instead of into the framing below. A rear dam and end upturns are what distinguish a true pan from a flat strip of tape, and its absence is a leading cause of rot under sliding doors.
Where it sits in the glossary
Sill pan is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
License: CC-BY-4.0 — quote freely with attribution to ProFix Editorial Team / ProFix Directory.