Water control and drainage continuity
Why the water control layer must be continuous, which code sections and publisher values govern flashing, weeps and gaps, how to run a continuity check on a drawing set, and how to document it before the wall is covered.
4 lessons · about 46 min · 14 diagrams · 6 videos
Version 1.0.0
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Lessons
0 of 4 complete
Lesson 1 · 10 min · 9 slides · 8 questions
Water control and drainage continuity: principles and terminology
Why continuity matters more than any single material, the three rain-control strategies, where a wall is interrupted, the terms for the pieces that carry water out, who decides, and the fall-protection boundary for site visits.
You will be able to: Explain why the water control layer must be continuous, name the places it is interrupted, define the flashing and drainage terms a detail depends on, and say who decides what on a project.
Not startedStart →Lesson 2 · 13 min · 12 slides · 10 questions
Water control and drainage continuity: materials, standards and design constraints
The IBC and IRC sections for flashing, weeps and metal thickness; the standards for non-metal flashing; the specification sections to coordinate; and why gap sizes and weep spacing depend on the source.
You will be able to: Find the code sections that govern flashing and drainage, tell a code requirement from a publisher recommendation, and read gap sizes, weep spacing, laps and metal thickness against the document that sets them.
Not startedStart →Lesson 3 · 12 min · 12 slides · 8 questions
Water control and drainage continuity: methods and worked application
An eight-step continuity check, the installation checks for through-wall flashing, six worked examples with every input labelled, and the continuity schedule that records the result.
You will be able to: Run an eight-step continuity check on a drawing set, run the IMI installation checks for through-wall flashing, and work the numbers for weeps, laps, head flashing length, flashing height, sill slope and metal thickness.
Not startedStart →Lesson 4 · 11 min · 9 slides · 9 questions
Water control and drainage continuity: defects, verification and case study
Defects that break water control continuity, the checklist and photographs that document it before concealment, and a constructed lintel case worked step by step against code and publisher values.
You will be able to: Recognize the common continuity defects at openings, wall bases, weeps and roof-wall joints, document evidence before the wall is covered, and work a constructed lintel case from defects to a sourced target condition.
Not startedStart →
Practical task
Run a continuity check on one wall section from a project drawing set or an example detail you choose: a masonry veneer wall with an opening and a roof-wall joint. Record every input and say whose value each number is.
Hand in
- A marked-up section showing the water control layer, every interruption, the piece that hands water out at each one, the laps, the end dams, the weeps and the drip.
- A continuity schedule with one line per interruption: location, detail reference, layer upstream and downstream, lap and seal, end condition, exit and source.
- A code and recommendation table naming the edition you assumed, and marking each value as code or as a publisher recommendation.
- A worked calculation for weeps on a run, pieces for a through-wall run and head flashing length, with inputs, units and assumptions stated.
- An inspection checklist of what to photograph before concealment, and a defect analysis of the lintel case in lesson 4 with the sourced target condition.
Rubric
| Criterion | Meets the standard when |
|---|---|
| Continuity | Traces the water control layer through every interruption and names the piece that hands water out at each one, with the specification section that supplies it. |
| Laps and ends | Shows the upper piece lapped over the lower, laps sealed as the publisher or maker states, and end dams at every discontinuous end. |
| Exit | Places weeps immediately above the flashing at a stated spacing, shows the drip beyond the face, and says whether the spacing is the code maximum or a recommendation. |
| Numbers and sources | Labels every value as the code's, a publisher's, an AFS register value or an example input, and does not carry a number from one document to another. |
| Calculations | Rounds weeps and pieces up, shows the lap subtracted from each added piece, and compares thickness with the code minimum using stated inputs. |
| Evidence and role | Lists the photographs keyed to the schedule and leaves the repair detail to the designer of record. |