A commercial roofer in Phoenix told me my drip edge was all wrong

Last year I was finishing up a small shed roof job and this old timer drove by and stopped. He pointed out I had the drip edge sitting flat against the fascia instead of leaving a gap for water to drip clear. Said I was basically inviting rot into the plywood edge over time. I went back and pulled all 40 feet of it off and reinstalled with a 1/4 inch gap like he showed me. Has anyone else gotten unsolicited advice on site that actually turned out to be a game changer?

2 comments

2 Comments

milar463mo ago

The old timer was right about that gap. Water tension will pull it right back into the wood if you don't give it somewhere to break away. Saved yourself a fascia replacement down the line with that fix.

ryan_clark403mo ago

Man I learned that exact lesson the hard way too, @milar46. Had a drip edge job on a buddy's garage where I nailed it flat against the fascia cause I thought tight looked better. Three months later we got a big rain and water was literally wicking back under the shingles and dripping down the wall from inside. Felt like a total clown when a neighbor walked over and said "hey you know that's supposed to hang off a bit right?" Pulled it all off and redid it with a 1/4 inch gap like you said and it's been bone dry since. Funny how one little gap saves you from tearing out a whole rotten fascia board later.