I have water leaking between the gutters and the eaves surounding the entire house. It's two stories high and I suspect the previous owners didn't put the shingles over the edge enough to drip the water into the gutters. I have not been able to get up there to completely confirm everything as I don't have a ladder tall enough. That being said, I will have a loaner ladder shortly.

Now, how to resolve this issue...
I have two ideas, both have their draw backs, which leaves me searching for better ideas.

The first would be to put a bead of silicon or similar between the gutter and the eaves, removing the gap for the water to drip through.
The problem being if the shingles are too short, this could allow for water to get under them and rot the roof.

The second idea is to use the top section of a shingle, and slide it under the shingles along the edge (extending the shingle line). These would be tached down and a bead of tar or similar to cover the nail heads.
This will be more costly as I would need to cover aproximately 160ft of roof edges and fight with the cappings on all 4 corners.

Any ideas as to what I could do to resolve this issue?

 

I have made up a drip edge out of aluminum (flashing or siding trim stock). I make up a bunch of strips in easy to handle lengths, usually about 6 feet. Looking at the end it's shaped like the letter "L" with the long part that will slide under the shingles being several inches long and the drip leg that hangs down about 1/2". I tuck them under the shingles making sure to overlap them a few inches when installing. Depending on how your shingles were installed and how long you made the long leg you may be able to just shove them under the shingles and let friction hold them in place. You can also apply a few blobs of roofing tar to act like glue to hold them in place.

Also, it's helpful to have a pair of tin snips handy when installing in case a roofing nail is preventing you from sliding the drip edge in place. Sometimes you have to notch the long leg to go around the nail.

 

I did a quick search on some of the local big box stores and found 2in x 2in x 10ft(90' angle) flashing for under $6. Providing that is the solution, I'm looking at ~$96 for flashing, a couple tubes of roof tar and a small box of nails. Not too bad should it be a full solution.

That being said, I was up there yesturday sealing the gutter seams on the West and East side of the house. I didn't have the tie-off equipment, so I didn't venture out onto the roof.
I was able to reach out and check the shingle edges and noticed there appeared to be enough shingle hanging over the edge (3/4 - 1in).

I suspect I will need to borrow the ladder to confirm what is actually happening before picking up the materials. I know it is leaking between the gutters and the eaves as I have watched it during a rain.

 

I have seen some odd things happen at the roof's edge especially as the roof pitch gets shallower. I've seen the water run down the roof and the surface tension holds it to the shingle as it goes around the edge and then back up the under side of the shingle. It almost looks like it's defying gravity. If it rains a bit harder the water still makes it around the edge of the shingle but breaks free and gets "flung" back towards the house. The sharp edge edge of a drip edge does not give much for the water to hold onto. Couple that with being vertical and it does a good job of forcing the water to drip off there.

 

possibly just clogged with debris.......


Mike NJ

 

lawrosa,

I checked for that. There is a little bit of shingle dirt (sand) which is pretty common from what I have seen. No leaves or branches in the gutters as the roof is higher then any near by trees.

I'll try to grab a picture or two tonight if it is not too dark out. It may take a couple days however as I'm going to be working a few long days in the office.
This should give a better idea as to the extent of the shingle edging and flashing.