What is drip edge on a house?
Where to look
Stand in the yard and look at the roof edge above the gutter. A drip edge shows as a narrow band of metal, usually white, brown or black to match the trim, between the bottom of the shingles and the face of the fascia board. Then look up the sloped side edges of a gable, called the rakes. Drip edge should run there too.
Signs a house is missing drip edge
- Shingles overhanging bare wood with no metal visible.
- Fascia boards with dark streaks, peeling paint or soft spots, especially behind the gutters.
- Rot at the corners where eaves meet rakes.
- Gaps between the roof deck and fascia where wasps or squirrels get into the attic.
- Water dripping behind the gutter instead of into it during rain.
How it relates to the rest of the house
The fascia is the vertical trim board along the roof edge, the soffit is the underside of the overhang, and the gutters hang on the fascia. The drip edge sits above all three and is their first line of defense. When it is missing or bent, water works into the fascia and soffit, and wood rot follows in a few humid Georgia seasons.
Older Georgia homes
Plenty of houses built before drip edge became a code requirement have none. It gets added during a roof replacement, and any rotted fascia should be replaced at the same time, before the new metal goes on. See drip edge explained and roof anatomy explained.