Roof flashing is a very important part of a house.
When working on paint colors, I have noticed that houses with newer roofs seem to have more flashing than houses with older roofing.
Roof flashing is now more noticeable than it used to be and that’s not good. I’m sure there are very good reasons for this change, but that doesn’t matter here.
What does matter is how this new flashing can negatively effect the appearance of your house and how you can easily fix the problem.
This additional flashing is referred to by roofers as a Drip Edge.
The roof flashing – drip edge can really help but notice how this white flashing looks out of place conflicting with the house colors.
Roof Gable Without Drip Edge Roof Flashing
On houses over 100 years old up until recently, the edge of an asphalt roof would extend outward about a half inch over the edge of the house. This is how it was everywhere on the house. Here we will focus on the gable fascia / gable rake (really the same thing) since it is more visible. The fascia on the lower parts of the roof (other than the gable) are usually covered up by a gutter.
Edge of asphalt roofing extends outward above top of bed mold trim. The decorative trim under the roof is not covered up with flashing. This is how it should be.
Notice in the image above that the end of an asphalt roof extends outward just a bit covering and protecting the wood beneath it, as it should. The wood beneath it is called the fascia board or rake of the gable (the fascia board is colored in blue in the image above).
On 95% of old homes a decorative trim called a Bed Mold is attached to the fascia board (the bed mold is colored in red in the image above). Unfortunately, newer homes do not have a decorative bed mold.
Bed molding can be about an inch wide or more and ornate. The addition of a bed molding creates a nice strong look, appearing like it is helping to support the heavy roof and providing a nice finished appearance. Depending on if the fascia was wide enough, the bed mold would sometimes be accented with a contrasting color on a Victorian home. If all were the same color, the bed mold trim would still create a nice shadow line which gives these old homes the character we love.
Gable With Drip Edge Roof Flashing
Roof flashing is brown or white and does not present a problem if it matches the trim color. With other trim colors the flashing looks very bad unless you paint it to match.
On new roofs, they are installing a piece of roof flashing under the edge of the roof that is bent down and covers part of the fascia. On all newer homes the fascia is just a plain board. There is no decorative bed mold on the fascia. It is just a plain boring board as you can see in the image above.
On an old house this roof flashing covers up the bed mold trim depending on how wide it is.
Drip Edge Roof flashing MUST be painted to match the trim color. In this example the flashing would be painted the accent color.
With a wider flashing it would be unfortunate to hide this beautiful piece of trim under the flashing. If the flashing is a different color than the trim color on your house this will look awful.
The flashing will come in either white or brown. If your trim is either of these colors that is fine. If your trim is white and the flashing is brown you MUST paint the flashing white otherwise the fascia will look too narrow to support the roof. Additionally the roof will appear too heavy.
If your trim is painted any color other than white and the roof flashing is white, this white trim (which has nothing to do with the other colors of your house) will stand out and look cheap. You MUST paint this flashing to match your trim color.
It is up to you to inform your painter for they may try to avoid painting flashing and gutters which must be painted when painting your house. If your flashing is new you may need a Bonding Primer.
Roof Flashing on a Porch Roof
There is another place that roof flashing has now invaded. It is at the back of the porch roof where the roof meets the house siding. Traditionally the flashing was installed and hidden under the siding. Today the flashing is on top of the siding. That is fine but it must still look like the flashing is behind the siding. This flashing should not be seen for it disrupts the architectural balance of the house.
The red arrow points to the unpainted brown flashing on the house to the left. The flashing is painted on the house to the right. See how much better and taller the 2nd floor appears when the flashing is painted to match the body color.
The solution is to paint it to match the siding. On some homes this flashing really creates a problem by making the area between the porch roof and the windows appear much narrower and unappealing. Click on the above image so you can better see the negative effect flashing can have unless it is painted. Painting it is an easy fix for this and nobody will be able to tell the difference.
A red tin roof was installed on this porch but the flashing should have been painted the tan body color of the house.
Here is another example of a roof installer not painting the flashing. It really looks strange standing out like that. Most painters will not paint the flashing so you must instruct them to.
Metal Standing Seam Roofs
Modern Standing Seam roofs have a different design and the roof wraps around the fascia board, completely hiding it at times. This is not a flashing issue but a roof design problem .
Think of the logic this way. Trim outlines your house and needs to be in proportion to the building. If the trim is too thin then the house will appear weak and lack structure. If the trim at the top of the house is white and there is brown flashing or a brown gutter covering the trim, that trim will appear narrower and therefore weaker to support the house.
This roof overlaps the fascia board totally eliminating the trim. This makes the roof appear too heavy. A bad design.
Painting is not the best option but it is a fix to the problem.
Why not have a nice green trim? Trim shows structure and makes a building more appealing. There needs to be contrast between a roof and trim.
Painting Metal Flashing
I contacted two different paint stores and got two different answers to what type of paint to use. If your flashing is old there shouldn’t be any problem just using the house paint you used on the wood. If it is new, it is best to prime the flashing first with a Bonding Primer and then apply an exterior paint. Your painter will better advise you on this.
We just had our chimney and chimney’s copper flashing sealed. The flashing is now all mousey gray and streaky. What to do?!
Sorry I am not familiar with this problem. Contact the company that did the work. Copper does get a brown patina on it before turning green.
our roofe put galvanized metal flashing over the brick 6in. looks terrible , any suggestions?
There will be flashing on brick when the brick is above the roof. A chimney for example. The chimney brick should be flashed with copper or brown aluminum about 6 inches tall. Even if your trim color is white, flashing on top of brick must be copper or brown. If they installed flashing over wood trim then call him back to fix it. They should know better. If the flashing on brick is not a dark color that should also be fixed by them no charge.
I need some clarification since only reading a comment in the banner under the photo and not necessarily stated very affirmatively in the article.
For an older home with decorative trim, should a drip edge be used or not?
It seems you are saying a drip edge should not be installed to cover decorative trim and rather the shingles should be cut to overhang the roof slightly.
Might you confirm?
Do NOT use drip edge flashing if it will cover your fascia. If you already have it then paint it to match the trim.
we have a 1920 brick home. On one side there is a gable, and under it there is a piece of trim that runs across that side that has a metal top on it. It is not a gutter, no down spout. What is that and what is the purpose. I can send you a picture
I would need to see a photo.
We’re having a new roof installed this week and they just started. I walked outside to take a look and noticed the drip edge was black when our facia boards and gutters are white. I contacted the installed and told them shouldn’t the drip edge be white? Very concerned, seems like an roofer would know this.
Yes – exactly. It can be painted but they should have known better to install a white one. My roof gets installed Monday. I told them no drip edge.
I am sooooo grateful for you sharing your knowledge with us. Thank you.
Libby Lu Davis
My roof was installed a month ago and my roofer used unpainted bonderized steel for the exposed skylight flashing. The $4k custom skylight (that will sit on this flashing) is still being manufactured The shingles have a 50 year life and the skylight will also have a very long life (powder coated aluminum). I live in the San Francisco bay area. My concern is that the unpainted exposed bonderized steel will not have a life equal to to the roof or skylight. Am I needlessly worrying?
From what I understand the bonderized steel must be painted.
I think this is just one of these things that you will need to check every few years to see if maintenance needs to be done.