And don't forget the Drip Edge

One day this spring I was headed out to the front yard with a rake to do some cleanup. When the rake handle accidently bumped the corner of my lower roof in the back, I uncovered the mess pictured to the left. The rake board is completely rotted out from water seeping in being the aluminum fascia cover - installed by a vinyl siding contractor about 5 years ago. When they did the installation and noticed that none of the gable edges of my roof had a drip edge, they simply ignored that fact and happily went on their way installing the aluminum wrap. Somehow, and I'm still dumbfounded by this, they didn't think it would be a problem to leave the upper edge of the aluminum exposed in such a way that water can easily get behind it. A ticking time bomb that blew up in my face 5 years later.

So, boys and girls, the moral of the story is: Learn what drip edge is and how utterly important a role it plays in a properly functioning roof. That's what I should have done.

My wife and I were clueless when we bought the house, I'll admit it. I didn't know what a drip edge was and that's why when the vinyl siding guys did their installation it never occurred to me that it was wrong. There needs to be a mechanical seal where the roof shingles and the fascia boards meet. I'm no roofer, but I now know this and I learned it the hard way.

Our new roof is going to be installed next week (I'm told). Stay tuned for that ... I'll take lots of pictures.