Hello,

Currently, the surface of my exterior walls on the gable ends of the house are flush with the edge of the roof. I would like to create an overhang to protect the siding and wood trim and to allow me to add ridged foam to the exterior walls prior to re-cladding.

There is a section of the roof-line that intersects the garage roof line. I'm wondering what the proper way is to join these roofs together. For example, on one side of the house, if I create a 16 inch overhang, the left side of the overhang would terminate on the garage roof's surface. What do I do there; attach a 16 inch brace right over the garage roof's shingles or do I cut away the shingles so I can attach the brace directly to the garage roof's sheathing? What's the best way to seal it up after that?

Thanks in advance.

Without at least a picture it's hard to say.
In order to install a longer overhang the roofing, sheathing, some of the siding and fashia will need to be removed.
16" is a lot of overhang and may interfere with the door openings and windows.
It's a pretty involved job, what is you hope to gain by this?

I've attached a sketch of a portion of the south end of the house. Hopefully it will help explain what I have in mind.
The fascia along the Southern-facing roof-line ('A' arrow) is nearly flush with the surface of the exterior wall (i.e., there is no overhang).
If I added an overhang, one of the ends of the overhang would terminate on the surface of the garage roof ('B' arrow). This is where I'm concerned about attaching to the garage roof such that everything is optimally sealed.
The Eastern and Western facing sides of the house and garage have ample overhangs/soffits('C' arrow), so I don't need to do anything with them.

Why do I want to do it? I'd like to add rigid foam on the exterior wall prior to re-siding. That would result in the side walls on the gable ends sticking out further than the fascia ('A' arrow). Also, the window frames shown on the gable end take a beating from rain settling on them.

Thanks for having a look.

There called fly rafters or lookouts. Here's a nice clear picture of how it's done.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=10283.0

Where the two roofs meet I would use a layer of aluminum flashing then Storm and Ice shield over that as double protection.

You are going to have to remove a large portion of the shingles and the sheathing to do this. I would remove just over 8' from the edges at least.
16" is a really long over hang so you do not want to just remove 4' and have the roof hump up right along the plywood seam from the fly rafter trying to tip. Far better to have every other sheet be full length.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joecaption,

Thanks for the reply joecaption and thanks for the link to the pictures.
The pictures show what seems to be excellent new construction. I can't however, clearly see and understand what is going on at the gable ends. I don't know how to translate what is shown in the open framing to my situation where I'm adding to an existing, fully sheathed and shingled, roof.

Maybe this site will help: click here

Or try this: click here also

What if you just let the 'new' fascia "A" hang over the roof, and not be attached to the roof "B"? Lookouts, outlooks, outriggers, whatever you want to call them, placed about 4 ft apart. I didn't read the articles, just looked at the pictures. (why does that sound familiar?)

Yes, you will have to remove some of your existing roofing to gain access.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Re-mdlr,

You can not (or at least should not, or it will fail) just add onto what you have.
Picture it this way, build a rectanguler shaped frame, add 1/2 )
OSB, install it like a shelf on a wall, with no support under it then add hundreds of lb. of shingles on top of that. How long to you think it's going to be before it leans and falls off the wall?

Thanks for the links Re-mdlr, the sketches and explanations help me visualize the task at hand (enough so that I'm really reluctant to take on this project).

joecaption, to elaborate on your analogy of a shelf on a wall, what if I add "shelf brackets"? We sometimes see ornate braces under eaves.

Not a great idea. Every bracket adds holes in the siding, would need to be cut at compound angles, would need far more maintaince from failing paint.
It's a one to a day to a 1 1/2 day job for three people that know what there doing to do it right.

well..., I'm still contemplating the complexity of this task. It occurs to me that, if I create an overhang, the end that terminates at the garage roof will create somewhat of a dam to water coming off three converging roof surfaces.

Hopefully the photos I've provided a link to will tell the story better than I'm doing in words.
Roof lines converge

I don't want to create a bigger problem (potential for water gathering and, eventually, leaking through).

Any thoughts on how this can be done "right"?

Thanks in advance.

re-read joecaption's schedule of work. that's the basics. if the overhangs were at the outer edges of the home gables, that's the full scope of work.

you are going to have a LOT of flashing fun if you expand the overhangs over that junction of roofs. basically you are dumping extra water into that valley and its flashing and waterproofing should be upgraded as well.

what I would do... nothing. now. when the roof is ready for replacement, I would call a general contractor or two about this... because with the valley so close to the gable on that room bump-out, I suspect you'd get a recommendation to extend the room and handle all three issues at once by simplifying the lines and angles. the advantage would be to make rainproofing the entire wing's roof simpler, not a maze of little angles, all different.

the present complexity invites hose-ups that are certainly going to turn into repeat leaks.

Yes. joecaption's input on the topic has been very good.
Thanks for your advice swschrad--especially since it meets my abilities so well. I'm very good at doing nothing