Your existing shingle roof has had it and you’ve decided to replace it with a standing seam metal roof that will last twice as long and add value to your home when it comes time to sell it.
You’ve gotten bids from two or three roofing contractors and you’re almost ready to make your decision. Most homeowners will trust their roofing contractor to do what’s necessary to replace the old roof but it doesn’t hurt to ask if your roof bid includes drip edge. A drip edge is a metal (usually aluminum) strip which extends beyond other parts of a roof and directs rainwater off the roof away from the fascia and into the gutter. The edge is configured so it prevents water from blowing under your roofing. At the same time, a lip along the edge makes water drip down out and away from your house, instead of directly down the side of the wall or fascia. In effect, it is an effective way to prevent water damage all the way from the roof to the foundation.
A drip edge provides a neat, straight edge to the roof, and is positioned so that roof water drips in the middle of gutters, along their full length. This is important because a badly positioned drip edge—or no drip edge at all– can cause overflowing of gutters, over front or back.
Sometimes, a roofing contractor will charge extra drip edge, particularly if he is hand cutting and bending the material which does take a little more work, time and skill.
But drip edge is available from manufacturers like Englert already pre-manufactured in 6” and 4” wide, 10-foot strips for new construction and retrofit roofing projects respectively to save the contractor labor costs in cutting and bending metal. Nearly every roofing contractor will vouch that drip edge is giving your home extra protection. And even home exterior painting contractors who have painted miles of fascia board with and without drip edge will tell you the paint job and wood always fair better when there’s a drip edge to help protect them.