Roof and gutter replacement in Medina, Ohio, the same week

Why plan the roof edge and gutters together?

A roof does not end at the last shingle. It ends where water lets go of the house, and that is the gutter. Four parts meet in the space of a few inches at every eave: the decking, the ice barrier, the drip edge and the gutter hung on the fascia board. If those parts are planned as one detail, water runs off the shingles, down the metal and into the trough. If they are done years apart by different companies, small gaps open up, and water finds the fascia.

The Medina roof replacement scope already includes new drip edge. Here is what changes when the gutters are replaced with it.

• The fascia gets seen. With the old gutter off and the shingles off, the whole board is exposed. Soft spots are found and replaced before anything covers them again.
• The drip edge is set to the new gutter. The lower flange of the drip edge should lap into the gutter so nothing can run behind it. That is easy when both are new and fiddly when one is thirty years old.
• The ice barrier wraps the edge. The membrane can be brought down over the top of the fascia before the metal goes on, which protects the board if ice ever backs up.
• Nothing new gets dented. Old gutters take a beating from ladders and falling shingles during a tear-off. New ones go up after the roof is finished.

What do the gutters on Medina houses look like now?

Builder gutters on 1990s and 2000s colonials

The two-story houses that filled Medina's subdivisions during the growth years mostly got 5-inch aluminum gutters held on with long spikes driven through a tube. Spikes work loose as the wood behind them dries out. You can spot it from the driveway: a gutter that tips forward, or a spike head standing an inch proud.

The roof shape adds to the load. Where a front gable or the garage roof meets the main roof, a valley sends a large share of the roof's water to one inside corner. A 5-inch gutter at that corner overshoots in a hard rain. A 6-inch gutter and a larger downspout at those spots is often the fix.

Older houses near the Square

Houses on the old streets around the Public Square Historic District have steep roofs that shed water fast, and their gutter runs are short and broken up by porches and bays. Some of the oldest have gutters built into the cornice itself. A built-in gutter is carpentry and sheet-metal work of its own, and we will tell you plainly if that is what you have.

Ranches from the 1950s through the 1970s

Low eaves, long straight runs and big yard trees. These gutters are easy to reach and often original. When the roof comes off a ranch, the gutters are usually due as well.

In what order does the work happen?

1. Old gutters come down

   If they are being replaced, they are removed and hauled away before the tear-off so the roof edge is open.

2. The roof is replaced

   Tear-off, deck repairs, ice barrier, underlayment, drip edge, shingles and ridge vent. An average house commonly takes a day or two.

3. New seamless gutters go up

   Seamless K-style aluminum in 5-inch or 6-inch is formed on site to the length of each run, then hung with new downspouts.

4. Guards, if you want them

   Micro-mesh gutter guards go on last. They fasten at the gutter and fascia, so nothing is slid under your new shingles.

All of it happens in the same week when the weather cooperates.

What if the gutters are still good?

Then they stay, and you are not sold new ones. Plenty of gutters outlast the first roof. The owner looks at them during the free roof inspection and the photo report says one of three things: keep them, rehang or reseal a section, or replace.

Gutters that stay still need attention on roof day. A tear-off sends old granules and the odd nail into the troughs, and all of that has to come out before the first rain so the downspouts run clear.

Why does Medina's tree cover matter here?

Medina was first named a Tree City USA in 1981 and has planted along its streets ever since. In a subdivision built thirty years ago, those trees have only now grown tall enough to drop leaves on the roof. Leaves that collect at the eave hold water against the first course of shingles and the fascia, and a clogged gutter in January is where ice builds. A new roof over a blocked gutter is a new roof with a wet edge.

That is the practical case for dealing with both at once. It is also why a house under mature maples near Lake Medina or along the older streets may want guards at the same visit.

How is the combined job priced?

The roof is one flat written quote, as described on the Medina roof cost page. Gutters are measured and priced by the linear foot, with the size and the number of downspouts written out. Both figures sit on the same document, and both are good for a year. You can take the roof alone, or the roof and gutters, and nothing about the roof price changes with your choice.

The steps from first call to final photos are on the how it works page.