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When it rains, water is supposed to roll down the side of your roof and into your gutters, through the gutters to a downspout, into the downspout and away from your home’s foundation.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way.  On some homes, water tends to drip behind the gutters, down the fascia and soffit and then either down the side of the house, or straight to the ground.  If you’re not closely attuned to the behavior of your home’s water drainage system, you may not notice this occurrence.

To be sure that your gutters are functioning the way they’re supposed to, we encourage you to take a close look at your gutters the next time it rains. You may see water dripping behind the gutters, or you may notice that your soffit is wet.

Over time, this could cause your home’s wooden roof deck to rot, and the paint on your fascia and soffit to crack and deteriorate. After a while, this will cause the wooden parts of the house to begin to rot, and in a few short years, you could be paying hundreds of dollars in repairs. We encourage you to make repairs before winter arrives.

Check Inside the Gutters First

The first thing you should do (after it stops raining) is to get up on a ladder to check that the gutters themselves aren’t clogged.  If the gutters are clogged, it’s possible that the water is overflowing the gutters and this is contributing to the leak.

If the gutters look clear, run a hose and fill the gutters with water.  Water should run out the downspout and away from the house without filling the gutter.  If the water fills the inside of the gutter, this means the gutters are clogged.

If the Gutter Isn’t Clogged, Then You Might Need Drip Edge

If your gutters aren’t clogged, then this means water from the roof is running over the shingles and down the trim, never quite making it to the gutters.  Drip edge might be a solution.

A drip edge fits under the shingles and over the edge of the trim.  It will protect part of the fascia and also the roof deck, but it won’t actually direct the water into the gutters.  Using a drip edge will only solve part of the problem, because water will continue to run down the side of the house behind the gutters.

A gutter apron is installed on the corners above roof decking. It is put under the shingles of an attic to flow water directly into the gutter.  While on the other hand a drip edge is installed to the trim and usually hangs directly behind the back of the gutter. A gutter apron is used where shingles are not far enough from the edge of the gutter.

To install a gutter apron, slide the apron over the roof deck just beneath the shingles and fit the angled bottom of the apron over the gutters.  Then use roofing nails to nail the gutter apron into place.

Can you install gutter aprons over a drip edge?

While you may install a gutter apron over a drip edge on a new roof, this would be redundant.  You would either need a gutter apron or a drip edge.  As these two roofing components are there to achieve the same job and are installed in the same space, you would not want to install both on the corresponding edges.

In the case of an existing roof that already has a drip edge, in the interest of saving time, you can install an apron over it without the need to remove it entirely.

There are, however, areas that you would want a drip edge, and others you would want a gutter apron.  Namely, aprons should only be installed in areas that have a gutter there for them to direct water into and away from your roof.  A drip edge should be installed in all areas that do not have a gutter to drip into, it is there to direct water away from your facia and away from your roofing members that are susceptible to water damage and wood rot.