Window flashing is tedious, boring work. It absolutely has to be done correctly. Therefore, I resolved to take a chill pill and spend parts of two days painstakingly mucking with the mess.
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The most important concept: You always start from the lowest point and work your way upward, lapping the materials over each other. The idea is that if any water gets behind the stucco, the membranes will funnel the moisture behind the stucco down to "weep holes" at ground level, keeping it away from the wood because of the way the flashing and paper is lapped. Above and below: Starting at the top edge of the lower window, I tied new flashing into the existing moisture barrier behind the stucco using plastic asphalt roofing cement. |
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The white membrane is "Fortifiber" self-adhesive window flashing. The black stuff is heavy-duty asphalt building paper. As I worked from bottom to top, I lapped each piece over the other, using liberal amounts of sealant to join the new materials with the edges of the existing paper behind the stucco. |
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My son, Chris, who had come over for a Memorial Day barbecue, helped me install the window. It is a two-person job to get the heavy, awkward assembly centered into the space, then get it perfectly level and plumb. You cannot even depend on the vinyl frame to stay "square." After I drove a few nails in, I measured the diagonals to make sure that they were equal, only to discover that the rectangular shape had slightly deflected to a trapezoid. So we had to pry a top corner of the window frame horizontally about 1/4" to re-square it prior to final nailing. If a window is not perfectly level, plumb, and square, it won't close perfectly.  Interior view of the new Milgard window. |
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On the inside, I packed fiberglass insulation into all the wall cavities that don't require electrical or structural inspection. |
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