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Whoever installed the roof on my house put the bottom drip edge on top of the felt underlayment instead of below it. This is causing significant rot on my fascia and eaves. (I don't have any gabels.)

A new roof would ultimately solve this, but I can't afford one right now. Is this something I can remedy (or at least improve) on my own? If so, how should I go about it?

Update: This roof is shingled with architectural asphalt shingles (Certainteed Presidential). It's missing a starter strip. By "fixing" this, my first notion would involve getting the felt out from under the existing drip edge, either by:

  • Removing the drip edge, and sliding it underneath the felt to reattach it, or
  • Bending up the existing drip edge and sliding a new one underneath both it and the felt, or
  • Cutting the felt just above the drip edge, and slide a new, wider drip edge above the existing one and below the remaining felt. This may also involve adding more felt above the new drip edge.
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It's virtually impossible to get drip edge under the bottom edge of a roof without redoing the whole roof.

You might be able to improve it by using flashing tape to seal the drip edge to the felt, if there's enough flex in the (shingles, I assume - you didn't say) on top of it to get that in without breaking the (shingles?)

You might also be able to slip a strip of felt (non-sticky) up under the lowest shingles on top of the joint, which won't require as much flexing if they are stiff, and can probably be shoved further up than the sticky flashing tape can be adhered. You'll want a few dabs of tar or other compatible roofing adhesive to keep that in place once it's shoved in as far as it will go.

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  • Wouldn't a piece/strip of aluminum flashing work just as well as the felt? And you have a better chance of working that up under the shingles.
    – SteveSh
    Commented Nov 21, 2020 at 17:32
  • It might. It might also do some fancy galvanic corrosion with a galvanized steel dripedge.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented Nov 21, 2020 at 19:41
  • Good point. Most of the drip rails I've seen seem to be made from aluminum, I thought.
    – SteveSh
    Commented Nov 21, 2020 at 20:01
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    Depending on where you are and what your current temps are like, using a heat gun to soften the shingles may help them bend without breaking. It's in the 30s (F) where I am, and bending shingles would likely lead to breaking shingles in this weather...
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 1:51

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