How Much Should A Roof Overhang

Greater overhang becomes a point of leverage for gusts of wind to rip off your roofing.

How much should a roof overhang.

Too little can allow water to seep into rake or fascia boards. For the south side of the home you should follow basic solar design principles. An overhang to protect the shed user on a rainy night could be relatively small whereas an overhang to provide a shaded area in front of the shed to keep the interior of the shed cool will be much larger. In short that means that the roof overhang should be of sufficient dimensions to optimize the amount of shade during the warm summer months but not be so large that they do not allow full sun exposure during the cold winter months.

A typical metal roof overhang may be 2 to 4 inches or even less. This will protect a roof from most types of damage. Roof overhangs can extend farther than 2 feet but beyond this length they begin to lose structural integrity and require external supports. Too much overhang and the shingles could blow off in high winds.

Some slight overhang is recommended in conjunction with a drip edge flashing to prevent water from getting under the roofing and onto underlying wood. If you do not have a drip edge flashing installed shingles should overhang an inch to an inch and a half. The ideal shed roof overhang depends on the purpose of the overhang the location and microclimate of the building. If you have installed a drip edge flashing you should have between half an inch and three quarters of an inch of shingle overhang.

The size of the roof overhang you choose depends largely on the style of your shed s roof. Many installers deliberately bend down the overhang into the gutter to assure no wind blown rain goes between the overhang and the gutter effectively preventing water incursion behind the gutter. Two feet is the general maximum length for a typical roof overhang. The edge of the shingles should hang over a roof between an inch and an inch and a half or between a half inch and three quarters of an inch if drip edge flashing is installed.