The Drip Edge Takes Hail the Shingles Shed

Many homeowners walk the yard after a hailstorm looking up at the shingles, then at the gutters and the siding. The strip of metal along the bottom edge of the roof usually gets skipped. That strip is the drip edge, and it sits where hail that bounces off the roof field lands, so it can carry marks the shingle surface never shows. This page covers how to check it from the ground, how to photograph it, and what a bent lip does and does not prove.

Where the drip edge sits on your roof

Drip edge is a bent metal flashing that runs along the eave, the lower edge of the roof, and along the rake, the sloped edge at a gable end. At the eave its outer lip hangs past the fascia so water coming off the shingles drops clear of the wood. At the rake it is installed in a different order, so the two runs do not look the same from below. On typical residential work the metal is aluminum, though some crews use galvanized steel. The gauge is usually thin, which is part of why a single hard stone can crease the lip.

Why the edge takes hits the shingles shed

Shingles have granules that cushion the first blow, and the granule pattern is what most people read on the roof field. Metal has no granules. A stone that strikes the shingle at a steep angle can deflect off and come down on the bottom few inches of the roof, where the drip edge is. The windward side of the house takes more of the hits, the same as the gutters and siding on that side, so the drip edge on that side is a sensible place to look first.

What a hail mark looks like on the lip

Hail on drip edge tends to leave round, shallow dents spaced in a pattern that follows the stones. Check for a crease that runs along the bend, where the lip folds back toward the wood. Look for a lip that has been pushed up or down out of line, a joint that has opened at a splice, and paint or finish that has cracked at a dent so bare metal shows. Ladder scuffs and gutter-cleaning tools leave scratches and single gouges in one spot, often where a person would lean. A run of dents across the same section of eave, on the same side where the gutters show dents, reads differently from one odd mark.

Where the drip edge meets the gutter and the fascia

The gutter hangs in front of the drip edge at the eave, so the two are close enough to damage each other. When hail bends the lip, the gutter hanger can be pushed out of its line, and the gutter may sag or pull away from the fascia on that run. Dents in the gutter on the same run point to the same direction of hail. A loose hanger on its own can come from many causes, including years of ice and leaves, so do not read a single hanger as proof. Check the fascia behind the lip too. A bent drip edge can lift the nail line at the top of the fascia board, and a split or soft spot there is worth photographing with a tape in the shot. Where the eave meets the rake at a corner, look at the miter joint. A joint that has opened, or a corner with a visible gap, is worth a close photo, because a gap there lets water run behind the metal.

Photograph it before anyone lifts a shingle

You can document the drip edge without going on the roof. Stand on the ground at the base of the wall and shoot the lip straight on, then at an angle, with a coin or a tape in the frame for size. Take close shots of each crease and each joint, and note the side of the house and the approximate spot on the run. Keep the original files with their date stamps, and do not crop or edit them. Store these next to your photos of the gutters, the soft metal flashings and the window screens. A written note of the side and the run is worth more than a memory of it a month later.

What a bent lip proves, and what it does not

A bent lip shows that something struck it with force. It does not tell you the size of the stone, the storm date, or whether the same hit damaged the shingles beneath. Those questions belong to a full inspection, where the roofer and the soft metal on the house are read together. One piece of metal alone is weak evidence. Several soft metals on the same slope, dented in a pattern that matches, is stronger. Whether any of this is covered under your policy is a question for your policy and your insurer.

Missouri law (RSMo 407.725) forbids a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating your insurance claim, and it forbids saying anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible. Within those limits, Keys documents the damage, gives you a written scope with photos and measurements, and attends as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer.

Questions to ask about the drip edge in the bid

• Does the scope list the drip edge as its own line, with eave and rake footage shown separately?
• Will damaged drip edge be replaced in full sections, or straightened? Who decides, and on what basis?
• What material and gauge is the new edge, and does it match the existing edge?
• Will the photo log show the lip before the old metal comes off?
• Where does the new edge meet the gutter hangers, the fascia and the corners?

Put the answers in writing on the scope before you sign. If a bid says drip edge is included but does not state which edges, the length, or the material, ask for those numbers before you decide. Keys Roofing can be reached at (314) 220-2333 to talk through a specific house and its drip edge.