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How do I fix the gap between my vinyl siding and roof shingles?

last year

I recently noticed a gap between my siding and the roof of my indoor porch. It's hard to notice from ground level, but as shown in the attached photo, there is a 1.5 inch gap, which contains apparently the remains of old wood or particle board (it looks and feels like dilapidated cardboard). My guess is that the gap has been there for at least the 20 years I've owned in the house. There is a brick wall behind the siding, so the main interior of the house is safe from water leakage, but I imagine that rainwater could leak onto the wall and ceiling of the inside porch below the shingled roof. But I haven't seen any water damage there yet.

Any suggestions on how to cover up the gap? Maybe just a new row of vinyl shingles below the existing ones?

Featured Answer

PRO

Flo Mangan

last year

I think they didn’t put proper flashing under siding. That’s a leak waiting to happen. Must be fixed.

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Comments (9)

PRO
Flo Mangan
last year
Inspect for wood rot or termite damage if it has been like this for a while. Water will seek path of least resistance.
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liasch
last year
Definitely needs flashing.😵‍💫🤦‍♀️

I hope this is a recent installation and you can call and get the contractor back.
liasch
last year
I can see from the OP comment it’s not recent… It’s been this way for 20 years? Then I am in the “if it isn’t broken don’t fix it” category.
PRO
Flo Mangan
last year
I would definitely inspect for damage and termite infestation. That goes on out of sight. Take an awl and poke in area and if “soft” that’s a hidden problem. If solid no problem. Caulk up holes and forget about it.
PRO
Flo Mangan
last year
This is an awl.
PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
last year
What you see is some sort of sheeting material they put over furring strips to provide backing for the siding. Take a few rows of siding out at the bottom, clean everything up, cut bad sections out, and replace with an 8-10" band of rigid foam matching the thickness of the sheeting, install flashing, and re-install siding.
gordon_dakin2
Original Author
last year
gordon_dakin2
Original Author
last year

Thanks for the comments.

Liasch - yes, I THINK the wood (now rotting) has been exposed like this for 20 years, and there is no water damage in the inside porch below. I got a new roof 2 months ago, and as seen in the closeup photo, the new roofing shingles go under the rotting wood, out of sight toward the brick wall, where the roof-wall juncture is hopefully covered with flashing, assuming the roofers did it right.

Flo Mangan and GN Builders - yes, I think I'll hire a siding person to get up there and inspect it to see what's under the siding (like furring strips), and decide how it needs to be cleaned/fixed up.

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