Do I need a drip edge for my house?
derekr
| Posted in General Questions on
I thought these were installed by default with every roof, but my roofer asked me if I wanted one which made think it’s optional
My roof is very steep 58 degrees, I’m also not going to have any gutters, so under these conditions do I need a drip edge or not?
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Replies
see https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/asphalt-shingles-as-drip-edge-common-practice
So it doesn’t make a difference how steep your roof is or whether your using gutters or not? There are no variables?
Drip edge is less than fifty cents a foot. Installation when you've got a nailer in your hand and you're already on the roof is like fifteen minutes for the whole house. It's hard to imagine it adding $100 to the cost of a multi-thousand dollar roof job. I just can't see any reason not to do it.
Cost isn’t the problem, problem is I have to have fascia before he can put on the drip edge with the roof, and the siding people aren’t going to be out for 5 months because windows won’t be in for another 5 months
So I put my roof on now without a drip edge or I have no roof for 5-6 months
This is really common. You carry a piece of fascia material around with you as you set the drip edges and put a space between the drip edge and the rafter ends.
I'd almost say if someone doesn't know how to do that I wouldn't want him working on my roof.
How can they nail the fascia to the roof if there’s a drip edge in front of it at the top? If the drip edge was done first and the fascia 2nd?
Derek,
Drip edge typically only extends about 1 1/2" down the fascia.
Why would they be nailing fascia to the roof? It nails onto the rafter ends.
In new construction the roof always goes on before the siding and trim. Getting the roof on gets the rest of the house out of the weather.
+1 for going with a drip edge, and I completely agree with DC's cost assessment here. About the only decision to make is to use the correct type of drip edge for whatever gutters you plan to install (vinyl gutters prefer a slightly different type of drip edge from metal gutters, for example).
I can't imagine NOT installing drip edge.
Bill
If your rafter ends are cut square and therefore rake in, drip edge is not necessary. Drip edge is to keep water off the fascia.
What about the rakes? Seems like water could still get in there
Derek,
When you replace old roof shingles the damage is often concentrated at the first few inches in from the rakes.
Either drip-edge, a soldier course of shingles, or 6" of peel & stick membrane are all good insurance against that.
This is what the eve and rake look like
Here’s another angle
You need some kind of drip edge.
From your photo I see two kinds of house wrap installed by lapping them vertically on the roof. Neither appear to be installed correctly or are appropriate for roofing. Your pictures are low quality, however. Is that temporary?
If you do things in backwards order in construction, final results may reveal lower quality workmanship. Although, like others said it can be done.
In my experience, when we did things backwards in residential construction, due to the GC being a sloppy project manager, final results tend to reveal less than ideal workmanship and clients take notice. Beware.
Yes it’s temporary, they ran out of the roof paper
Residential Code R905.2.8.5 - it is required -- https://www.iccsafe.org/wp-content/uploads/errata_central/2012_irc_sigchanges.pdf