Here in northern Utah, many of the homes are clad with vinyl siding. Vinyl siding is a good choice because it breathes and when water does enter into the system, it can dry out again in our low humidity air. Unfortunately, there is still lots of water damage occurring because of poorly installed flashing in behind the wall cladding systems.
The Vinyl Siding Institute has produced an excellent installation guide for vinyl siding installers. This manual can be found at: http://207.158.230.91/pdfs/guide.pdf
 SIDEWALL FLASHING AT ROOF LINES
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| Run the siding until the last full course under the roof area.
Cut a diverter from aluminum trim sheet, making sure it sits on the nail hem of the last full course (Fig. 42). Also make sure to slip it behind all J-channels and roof flashing.
As an alternative to the diverter, create a “kickout“ from metal flashing, as shown in Fig. 43.
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FIGURE 42
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Cut the next piece of siding, making sure the vertical lap falls behind the roof flashing and roof J-channel.
Cut a small piece of siding that will be placed on top of the previous piece of siding and sits in the roof J-channel.
NOTE: “Kickout flashing” (Fig. 43) is an additional flashing strip that extends beyond the edge of the fascia that is required in some cold-climate localities.
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Figure 43
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SIDE NOTE: I have yet to see the correct “Figure 42” installation. I have had installers tell me that is what was done, but when we opened up the area, lo and behold, there was no diverter installed. This is why the kickout option is preferred because you can clearly see it from the ground. This leaves no wiggle room and the city building officials in our area now require the kickout flashing.
If you have vinyl siding, or are considering its installation, then I highly recommend that you visit the Vinyl Siding Institute and download their installation manual. Here are the two links to their site and information.
