# Drip Edge Leak -- Bad installation? Something else?



## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Can you take some pictures from a bit wider angle and post them up?


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

I'm not home right now, but here's another angle I had on my phone (looking towards the backside of my house):


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

That's messed up, completly wrong, and makes 0 since to do it that way.
What is under that starter strip? It should have been under the first row of shingles.
The fashia is suppost to be under the starter strip not 6" away from it.


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

joecaption said:


> That's messed up, completly wrong, and makes 0 since to do it that way.
> What is under that starter strip? It should have been under the first row of shingles.
> The fashia is suppost to be under the starter strip not 6" away from it.


Looking up from the attic crawl space there appears to be underlayment first, then the starter strip, and I guess the drip edge on top. I'm assuming the drip edge needs to be underneath the starter strip? What can expect a roofer to do in this situation to resolve the problem?


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## [email protected] (Nov 17, 2008)

Where are you located t60?

It's possible, maybe not, that gutter lining material is wrapped under the drip edge and over the fascia/gutter board. Standard practice for those materials.
I would start by looking under the first row of shingles for open joints that may be leaking when water backs up in heavy rains.


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

I'm on the west coast. In my area it's 55-65 degrees most of the year, including summer.

I'm 90% certain the lining material is under the drip edge and over the gutter board. The gutter board is directly underneath the drip edge. I can double-check when I get home.

I don't believe that the first row of shingles is causing the issue. I looked at the entire side and the shingles look great, but the leak is only happening on this part of the house. It is next to a downspout so more water will be in this area. It looks like the water goes on the starter strip, gets pushed towards the edge and instead of dripping out from the drip edge, it goes into the fascia on top and drips into the attic.


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

Is there any overhang on this roof? If so how much?


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

This area has none.

The front part of my house has about 6-8 inches.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

I would guess it to be what dmc said. It is wrapped short and not over the fascia board.


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

So I've had three roofing guys come by, I'll just call them A, B, and C.

A: He wanted to get rid of the drip edge, rip out the starter strip and get a better idea of what's causing the leak. He didn't want to climb in the attic to look because of "unsafe conditions" -- though he was on the larger side, and my attic is just a crawl space so I could see why he said that.

B and C both went into the attic (when it was raining) and saw what I was talking about. They both were not sure what was causing the leak, but have offered to come back on a sunny day to do some spot checking with a hose.

B thought it was the shingles at first, but took a peek and didn't notice any issues. He thought it may be the downspout area that needs to be patched, because he didn't see any water in the attic, aside from the edge.

C thinks a couple of the shingles could be re-nailed, and offered to do it when it was sunny again, then do some spot checking with a hose.

I've asked A never to come back. B and C said there were no issues with the drip edge installation, as this is a typical installation as another poster noted earlier. They said about 75% of the roofs in my area have this strange "gutter"-like edge.


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## Roofmaster417 (Jun 9, 2010)

Why not invest in a more "traditional" gutter system.It seems that at some point that material will fail resulting in more extensive damage.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I'm with Roof master on this one. That's one funky looking setup.
I can see more ways it will will leak then ways it's doing any good.


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

Roofmaster417 said:


> Why not invest in a more "traditional" gutter system.It seems that at some point that material will fail resulting in more extensive damage.


By this do you mean remove the drip edge, remove the starter strip, remove the fascia boards and replace with new fascia boards that are angled so that a traditional gutter system can be installed?

Sounds expensive, no?

I'm just trying to find out where the leak is, and figure out how to fix it for the time being. As noted several times, these are how roofs are set up here, only difference is that my neighbor's roofs don't leak -- if that's not "correct," sorry, but I don't have the money to hire someone such as yourself to fix it properly (i.e., rip it all out and re-do it -- though I'm sure that would be great business for you).

I'm kind of disappointed; I thought I would get "DIY" assistance but instead it's a bunch of "it's all wrong, fix it" without providing any steps on how to actually fix it -- instead I'm left to hire a roofer who will probably rip me off.


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## AndyWRS (Feb 1, 2012)

Can i get a pic of the overall area. To me, those pics do not show the exact situation. I see a fuzzy pic of a leaderhead, but without a wider and clear shot its hard to tell whats going on. It could be wind driven rain getting in around that scupper above the leaderhead...i just cant see whats going there.

It also appears that the metal ( doesnt look like drip edge to me, is it a coping?) is top nailed down into the torch or rolled roofing. 

Purhaps you should look at a neighbors roof of the same layout whom is not leaking and see what looks different than yours.


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

Pretty sure I know about where you live. Those built-in troughs are quite common in places in the NW. Not very common in other areas of this country which is why so many don't recognize it. You don't necessarily have an improper installation, just a fault somewhere since it is isolated to a specific area. 

I've seen where it is not wrapped up and over properly in areas and excessive weather (heavy or windblown rains) will cause infiltration. It does require getting up there and inspecting the area around it for that or for splits in the membrane etc. 
The "drip edge" really does nothing but finish off the look. Your main concern is the integrity and proper installation of the membrane. It's really nothing more than a 3-course (mastic and webbing) repair once the area is located.

A better picture directly in front of the area would really help if that's possible.


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

Thanks -- it's refreshing to see posts that are actually trying to triage the issue rather than throw money at it.

My neighbor let me up his roof and his setup was exactly like mine -- I could not tell the difference.

I'll try to get a better picture of the front, though it might be difficult due to the rain this week (probably too dangerous to climb up the ladder with the wind gusts).


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

First things I would look for are a lap seam in the membrane around that area and possible splits or damage in the membrane. If there is a seam, stepping on in will tell you if it's leaking. It could just be one small area but it gets underneath, hits the underlayment and wanders til it finds its way in. 
To check the edge the metal will have to be removed. Underneath it the membrane should roll over the top of the ledger and down the face. Unless it's a modified sheet sometimes bending the membrane over sharp angles can crack it. 

If it's leaking all the time I suspect one of the first two issues. If it's leaking only in extreme weather incidents I would suspect it's a perimeter issue. 

I also noticed some kind of odd transition in the trough in your pictures. Is the leak anywhere near this area?

edit: I see you said in heavy wind and rain. If your detail you drew is correct then it is installed wrong. The membrane should be up and over the face, not ending where you have it ending. then the edge metal installed basically just to hold the membrane down. Pull that piece off and see if the membrane is lapping over and see if it is split at the bends.


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## Roofmaster417 (Jun 9, 2010)

My intentions were not to disappoint you within the thread.Personally I have never seen a set up such as yours.Money does not grow on trees true and I was only trying to offer a solution.If I offended you.,my fault.

In the south and in my area I have found when people try to include Awa plan or other types of membrane converting a roof system material into a gutter system material it is a mask and eventually ends in more damage than had it been installed according to standard code compliance installations.


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

Roofmaster417 said:


> My intentions were not to disappoint you within the thread.Personally I have never seen a set up such as yours.Money does not grow on trees true and I was only trying to offer a solution.If I offended you.,my fault.
> 
> In the south and in my area I have found when people try to include Awa plan or other types of membrane converting a roof system material into a gutter system material it is a mask and eventually ends in more damage than had it been installed according to standard code compliance installations.


No offense taken, just frustrating to see my house leaking and honestly I'm just looking to get a quick fix right now since we're getting late winter rain. I think we have the same intentions -- if it were up to me I would get it re-done properly and have it last, but like you say, money doesn't grow on trees.


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

I went into my attic yesterday and upon reviewing the entire perimeter, and only this 3 foot section is leaking. I have a feeling I know what my roofers were getting at -- it looks like the rain is getting into a gap next to the downspout. I followed the trail of water in the attic and it stops right where the downspout is. I did not see any water under the shingles.

The rain hasn't been very helpful, so I haven't climbed up to verify it yet, but strongly believe there is some kind of water penetrating that area. I'm going to buy some roof patch and patch over any holes on the downspout (whenever it stops raining -- possibly next weekend), and I'm really hoping that fixes the issue.


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

Just wanted to provide an update -- I think I know what the problem is now, and it's got nothing to do with the drip edge or the shingles.

Here's what I saw this past weekend:









The orange arrow is where I think water is infiltrating. Sorry I forgot to get a better angle, but if you can't tell, this is a fascia board that the old roofers cut into for the drop outlet, and it looks like they cut way too much. They cut a huge square and there are very obvious holes exposed which allow water to come into the attic. I'm about 95% sure this is the culprit -- what I may do temporarily is patch it up and wait until it rains (tomorrow).

I don't know how I missed this pretty obvious hole, but I was too focused on the drip edge rather than the downspout. I guess that's why I'm not a roofer!


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## AndyWRS (Feb 1, 2012)

If the leak continues:

Isolate the area ( measure with a tape) and provide pics of that along with an over all pic of the area. The inital pic you posted shows us the general roofing situation you have, but not where the leak is. You will get 10 different posts about what it could be leaking from and all could be wrong. Help us help you


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## t60 (Jun 3, 2010)

I'm going to call in one of the roofers to fix this. I was staring at the roof with a hose for about an hour and just could not find the leak. It seems like the fascia boards themselves are old and are causing the leak, but I can't see any leaking points from the outside. The shingles look brand new and even after dosing it with water (gallons worth) the built-in gutters never got full to the point of reaching the drip edge.

It's probably going to cost me a few hundred bucks easy, but I'll just have a professional deal with this one. It's been 2+ years living with this leak and it'll be worth getting this headache fixed.


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## Roofmaster417 (Jun 9, 2010)

t60 said:


> It's probably going to cost me a few hundred bucks


 
Very small price for some piece of mind.I bet you are completely sick of this issue in your life.

A couple years is a long time of built up frustration.,who knows maybe some sky diving or bungee jumping is in your future ? 

I recommend a 7,000-14,000 foot jump to clear your mind and give a new outlook on your new found freedom.Nothing clears the mind better than hurling towards the earth @ 120 mph +.


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