Flashing

Flashing helps to mitigate water from coming into the wall cavity. It acts as a barrier where moisture drains from. This particular area look as if there will be a break within different types of cladding. You can see where the brick ladder reinforcement is just above the flashing. The flashing will keep water from penetrating the break between the exterior cladding.

In class we learned about two different types of flashing. L and Z flashing. L flashing extrudes from the opening close to a 45 degree angle. Although this flashing doesn't have a 45 degree angle, it doesn't come straight down from the block on the wall. Z flashing comes out from the opening at a 90 degree angle. An example of Z flashing is below.

Another thing to take into consideration when dealing with wall cavities and flashing is that moisture has to have someway of escaping. In order for water to exit the wall cavity, weep holes are usually drilled at the bottom of wherever the cavity ends. Weep holes are pieces of small string that are bunched together. The soak up any moisture in the wall cavity and allow it to exit the building. The photo below shows an example of a weep hole.