TL;DR
Step flashing is the series of L-bent metal pieces, typically 4x4-inch legs in aluminum, galvanized steel, or copper, woven one per shingle course where a roof slope meets a sidewall or chimney. Each piece laps the one below so water cascades shingle-to-shingle and out, with the wall leg covered by siding or counterflashing.
What it means
Step flashing is the series of L-bent metal pieces, typically 4x4-inch legs in aluminum, galvanized steel, or copper, woven one per shingle course where a roof slope meets a sidewall or chimney. Each piece laps the one below so water cascades shingle-to-shingle and out, with the wall leg covered by siding or counterflashing. It outperforms a single continuous angle because every course has its own backup, and reusing bent originals during a reroof is a corner-cut that shows up as wall leaks.
Where it sits in the glossary
Step flashing 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
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