When it rains, along part of the roof, water is getting behind the gutter and falling down from there. I got up on a ladder and used a hose to mimic what happens when it rains.



Seems a couple of factors are at play.
1. The shingles are curved upward a little at the red arrow, so instead of rainwater flowing down off the lip of the last row of shingles, some of the water will curve around to the bottom side of the lip.

2. The gutter is not caulked to the wood. And the area by the red arrow doesn't have a nail securing the gutter, so that portion of the gutter has a gap behind the gutter wide enough that I can just about get a finger between gutter and wood.

I don't think there's much I can easily do about the curved shingle as there must be some structural issue underneath that is causing the shingle to curve. So I'm thinking the easy fix is to nail the back wall of the gutter to the wood (and do this in several places so there is no significant gap behind the back wall of gutter). And then caulk where the top of the back wall of gutter meets the wood.

Does that sound like a reasonable plan? Is there a particular type of nail I should use for this, apart from making sure it's galvanized? Is there a particular diameter or length I should use?

What's the right type of caulk for this application?

Thanks!

 

There should be a drip edge flashing at the edge of the fascia and the back top edge of the gutter should be tucked up under that.

You need to remove the gutters, install the drip edge then reinstall the gutters!

 

Yep, no surprise there. No gutter apron flashing under the shingles and over the gutter. You dont caulk gutters to the fascia.



So get some gutter apron, shove it under the shingles and screw it back to the fascia as needed. When the roof is redone someday, you can fasten it to the roof like it's supposed to be.

 

Thanks, didn't know about drip edges / gutter aprons. So can I retrofit a drip edge as in this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5wRgooNnc

Looks like he's using a drip edge very similar to this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Amerimax...0120/100087282

If possible, I'd like to install the drip edge without removing the gutter. So maybe I can secure the drip edge by placing a little roofing tar on the portion of drip edge that slides under the shingles?

Also, does the drip edge go over the underlayment/tar paper or under the tar paper?

 

Its assumed you would leave the gutter in place, there is no reason to take it down.

 

I don't think I'll be able to peel back the shingles far enough to nail in the drip edge. In lieu of nailing, could I apply some roofing caulk (like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Karnak-1...-CTG/100257533) to the top surface of the drip edge and then shove it under the shingles?

This is the drip edge I'm looking at: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Amerimax...0120/100087282

 

You should just shove it under the shingles and screw it straight back into the fascia. It's possible you will have to remove some of your gutter brackets... slip a flashing in... and then reinstall the gutter brackets. It does not need to be nailed to the roof. Someday when the roof is redone it can be put on properly.

 

The reason I was thinking of using roofing adhesive is because (1) it means I'll have to remove some gutter brackets if not the entire gutter, and (2) aren't those screws into the fascia going to be a path for water to get to the fascia?

 

What do you think your gutter screws do? They are screwed into the fascia. Are they a path for water?

You dont have to take the gutter down. And you dont need any adhesive, that is a bad idea and it will only make a giant mess. Your flashing is 10ft long. So take out 10 feet worth of gutter screws, slip the flashing in, and put the gutter screws back in. Then move down and do another 10 feet.

It looks to me like you need more gutter brackets and screws. They should be spaced about 24-32" apart.

 

Seems like they would be. Wouldn't water want to travel down the gutter bracket screws, since they are sloped slightly down toward the fascia?

And with the roofing screws securing the drip edge to the fascia, when wind driven rain lands on the screw heads, wouldn't surface tension make the water migrate along the screw to the fascia?

I guess I could be anal about it and caulk around the screw heads?

Yeah, good catch. Definitely not enough brackets. That helped contribute to the problem because the location where the water is getting behind the gutter is between far apart gutter brackets. A bracket holding the gutter tight to the fascia there might have prevented the issue. Though of course this does need a drip edge installed regardless. Crazy that my folks hired roofers who skipped this step of installing very inexpensive length of aluminum. I guess they figured they'll be long gone by the time it's noticed and becomes a problem.

 

Imagine that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!