[ALarkin]

Hello all. I need some advice on a few things I discovered while cleaning out the gutters last weekend. The house is in North Carolina, built in 1994. I’ve had it only a few years and I don’t have a history of repairs by the previous owner. It’s possible there were repairs due to hurricane Fran (96), but that was never disclosed to me. The roof is a gable, with a small arch over a palladium window at one end (sort of a cross gable, I guess). Asphalt shingles (original, I think), OSB sheathing, 3/12 slope.

First issue(s):
There is no drip edge along the eaves, and no building paper under the first 3 rows of shingles. This doesn’t make sense to me. Is there a reason someone would install (or repair) the roof this way? Remarkably, all the sheathing along the eaves and the unpainted fascia were dry. I’d expect OSB to be swollen and fascia to be rotted if they were getting wet all this time. Since the shingles seem to be doing their job, I don’t want to disturb them unless I have to. Should I try to install building paper and drip edge on the sheathing or, just leave it alone?

Second issue:
There’s a bit of a sag behind the arch which can’t be seen from the ground - I don’t know how long it’s been like that. I couldn’t tell if it was only the sheathing that was sagging. From the ladder, the ridge looked fine. The sagging area is over a vaulted (drywall) ceiling, so it won’t be easy to inspect the sheathing an rafters from inside. I don’t think the ceiling is sagging, but it’s textured, which makes it hard to be certain. No cracks, and no sign of a leak on the ceiling or walls.

I don’t think the arch lends any structural integrity to the roof , just a load on the rafters. The previous homeowner loved big, tacky fixtures, and installed a ceiling fan (about the size of a DC3 propeller) right where I’d guess the sag is. Could the additional load have warped the rafter over time?

Any advice on how to proceed with evaluating the damage would be appreciated. I’m a pretty capable DIY’er, but I’ll get a pro if I have to.

Thanks
Andrew

[DwightB]

Hello all. I need some advice on a few things I discovered while cleaning out the gutters last weekend. The house is in North Carolina, built in 1994. I’ve had it only a few years and I don’t have a history of repairs by the previous owner. It’s possible there were repairs due to hurricane Fran (96), but that was never disclosed to me. The roof is a gable, with a small arch over a palladium window at one end (sort of a cross gable, I guess). Asphalt shingles (original, I think), OSB sheathing, 3/12 slope.

First issue(s):
There is no drip edge along the eaves, and no building paper under the first 3 rows of shingles. This doesn’t make sense to me. Is there a reason someone would install (or repair) the roof this way? Remarkably, all the sheathing along the eaves and the unpainted fascia were dry. I’d expect OSB to be swollen and fascia to be rotted if they were getting wet all this time. Since the shingles seem to be doing their job, I don’t want to disturb them unless I have to. Should I try to install building paper and drip edge on the sheathing or, just leave it alone?

Second issue:
There’s a bit of a sag behind the arch which can’t be seen from the ground - I don’t know how long it’s been like that. I couldn’t tell if it was only the sheathing that was sagging. From the ladder, the ridge looked fine. The sagging area is over a vaulted (drywall) ceiling, so it won’t be easy to inspect the sheathing an rafters from inside. I don’t think the ceiling is sagging, but it’s textured, which makes it hard to be certain. No cracks, and no sign of a leak on the ceiling or walls.

I don’t think the arch lends any structural integrity to the roof , just a load on the rafters. The previous homeowner loved big, tacky fixtures, and installed a ceiling fan (about the size of a DC3 propeller) right where I’d guess the sag is. Could the additional load have warped the rafter over time?

Any advice on how to proceed with evaluating the damage would be appreciated. I’m a pretty capable DIY’er, but I’ll get a pro if I have to.

Thanks
Andrew

For years, the architectural firm I work for never installed building paper. The theory was that it only got punched full of holes anyway, so, why bother? Also, the building paper tends to absorb moisture and get "lumps" which telegraph though an otherwise perfect shingle job. Now, shingle warranties force us to install the building paper, so we do it. I'm surprised the drip edge is missing. It really should be there to support the roofing edge properly.

RE: the sag. You might stretch a string across the length of the room and measure from string to ceiling at 12" intervals to see if the sag is real or just an optical illusion. There is a chance that it was built that way. I'd be surprised if a fan was heavy enough to cause a visible sag, unless the ceiling framing was very poorly designed.

[skiberger]

If the house is in a cookie cutter development it would be common not to see felt paper and drip edge. Cutting costs. May not have been any code enforcement either.

As for the arch, the ceiling may have sagged. Lack of nails (cost cutting) may have caused the drywall to sag due to gravity or help from the fan.