How to install drip edge

Q: During rains I have water leaking down the fascia board behind my gutters. The downspouts are not stopped up. How much should the shingles overhang the roof decking, and extend over the gutters? I have a bay window which extends out from the walls to the fascia board and has received damage from all the water running down it. During a rain there is almost a solid sheet of water running off the fascia boards, I just as well not have gutters. HELP!

A: It sounds like you have no drip edge on your roof. Most gutters get tucked in behind the drip edge and eliminate this problem.

Assuming that you "have" a drip edge, I usually overhang about 1/2" to 5/8" past the drip edge with my starters and first course of shingles. It shows how to do it on the shingle bundle wrapper.

A: There are slight different type of drip edges http://hardware.hardwarestore.com/27-108-drip-edge.aspx.

The lower edge of the roof is the edge that first row of shingle is laying on. The drip edge should be put underneath of felt (memberance).

The rake edge (sloped edge) is two arm of the triangle. Those shingles have been nailed on the roof. The drip edge should be installed between felt and shingle.

Here is a installation instruction http://www.rollex.com/pdf/dripedge.pdf

Another quick way to fix the problem is to put vinyl gutter cover sold in Homedepot or Lowes underneath of felt. It is not necessary to nail the gutter cover unless you want to.

Moss on roof

Q: Aside from aesthetics, what is the harm of having moss growing on my roof?

A: It reduces the lifespan of your roof.

A: It’s really easy to take care of. They sell moss-killing stuff at hardware and gardening stores. Just mix it with some water (there will be instructions for how much on the thing you buy), put it in a watering can, get up on the roof, and pour it all over the roof. A couple days later, get up on the roof with a big push broom and sweep off all the dead stuff. This should keep the moss from growing back for a couple years.

A: You can also spread some Tide with bleach (powder) right before it’s expected to rain (Costco sells big boxes). The rain will spread it out and the bleach will kill the moss within a week.

A: Just be aware if you have composite shingles that pressure washing can damage your roof and can include causing your roof to leak immediately. Most contractors believe you lose 3-5 years of life from your roof from pressure washing. If you use bleach (you don’t need Tide), make sure you don’t use more than a 1% bleach solution as this can damage your roof. If the moss is dead you can sweep it off, if not you can put zinc strips at the top of the roof and with the rain it will eventually kill off the moss. The main point is you want to keep the granules on your roof

A: Zinc strips work perfect and I’ve used them for 15 years…replace every 5 or so.

Choose shingles

Q: Any advice on what type of shingles to use? I heard to avoid the three in a row and go with Architectural ones? Any other tips? Is that a valid suggestion?

A: Because the materials are not a big portion of roofing cost (for composite roofs, at least), it’s generally best to go with the higher-grade shingles, as they’ll last longer. They’re also a little easier to install without messing up because they’re more robust.
Because they’re built-up to give shadow lines, the architectural ones last really well, and they also tend to hide any roof irregularities better than 3-tab shingles (when we re-shingled our first house, I noticed how many bad shingle jobs there were in my neighborhood).
The downside? Well, they cost more, and they weigh a bit more.
You should also think about color. Lighter colors will keep the attic space a bit cooler.
Finally, though it costs more, if you are re-roofing you will get a far better result if you do a tear-off.

A: So what does a new roof run now-a-days? Our shake roof is nearing it’s probably 20 year lifespan, and I suspect we’ll have to replace it sooner rather than later…
Is there a “per sq foot” price, or is it so unique to each house given the different number/size of surfaces, complexity of joints, steepness, etc that it is impossible to give a rough idea without having someone come out and estimate?

A: I had multiple layers of shake and shingle to remove and dispose of first and that dwarfed the materials+labor cost of the new roof install, so I went ahead and did a nice metal roof.

Q: Question on the metal roof - did you go with shingles or standing seam?

A: Standing seam, because we like the look of it on our house.Dark Brown to contrast the mocha color we went with for house paint (though dark brown contrasts nicely with a wide range of colors).