I recently bought a '60s flat-roofed house that doesn't have any gutters. The roof is a white EPDM membrane. I'd like to install gutters to direct water runoff. The facia boards are only 4" high and the roof membrane and drip edge overlap onto 1.5" of that, so gutters below that would hang below the fascia. It seems to me that maybe I could just slip the back edge of the gutter behind the membrane and drip edge so that water runs directly into the gutters. So I would remove the drip edge that secures the membrane to the fascia, place the back of the gutter between the fascia and the membrane, and then reattach the drip edge with the gutters in place. Is this an okay idea? Or is there a better solution?

Here are some pictures with just a short piece attached so you can see how I'm thinking of doing the whole gutter. The drip edge would be screwed in every 8-10 inches just like it already is. The screws would just go through the back of the gutters before entering the facia. In the pictures below I haven't reattached the drip edge so all the layers are loose/separated, but they'd all be tightened down by the screws through the drip edge.

 

Yes, that's the only good way to do it.

 

Thanks for the reply. I was doing some more reading this weekend and read about how with a membrane roof it's important to maintain the air seal where it attaches to the fascia. (Here, for example: EPDM Roofing - Edges) I was thinking that maybe it would be best to put the roof membrane behind the back of the gutter, so that the order of the "sandwich" goes fascia --> roof membrane --> back of gutter --> terminal bar/drip edge. That way the roof membrane is pressed flat against the fascia and not pulled out by the gutter brackets. This also prevents the possibility of water backing up in the gutter going up under the membrane.

Any thoughts? Thanks for anybody's expertise.

 

The epdm is glued to the roof, and what hangs over the edge is just a flap, held down by the termination bar. What you are calling drop edge is the termination bar. If you want to make sure all the water gets into the gutter, you do it just like you pictured in post 1.

 

Perfect - that's great to know. Thanks for your help!