The eave overhang is the distance the roof edge projects past the exterior wall. On many St. Louis houses it gets estimated once during the walk, written down as a rough number, and then forgotten until the fascia is cut. That number controls more than the look of the roof. It sets how long the drip edge runs along the eave and rake, how much fascia board is needed, where the gutter hangers land, how far the soffit panels reach, and how much of the shingle edge is carried out past the rafter tails. A spec that says "standard overhang" leaves each roofer room to decide, and two bids can then price two different edges.
Material and spec
Name the projection in inches on the spec, measured from the face of the wall to the outside face of the fascia or the drip edge, whichever sits farther out. Measure it at each corner of the house with a tape, because older houses in the city and the inner suburbs are rarely square. A single reading taken from the driveway can be off by several inches on the far side, and that difference shows up later as a drip edge that is too short on one elevation and too long on another.
Say whether the overhang on the rakes matches the overhang on the eaves. Many houses have a shorter rake than eave, and some have a gable where the brick wall carries up to the roof edge with no projection at all. Each of those choices changes which trim, metal and flashing goes on that edge. A brick gable with no overhang needs a counterflashing detail, and a gable with a deep overhang needs fascia and a drip edge that run the full rake length.
The projection also decides the edge metal. Drip edge comes in a leg length and a flange width, and the flange has to reach far enough under the shingle to carry water off the deck while the outer lip still clears the fascia. If the overhang is twelve inches and the spec names the drip edge only by a profile number, the installer will pick the flange width on the day. Ask for the drip edge profile, the leg depth in inches, the material and the finish, all written against the overhang measurement so the metal and the projection agree.
Fascia material follows the overhang too. A longer projection puts more board in the wind and more load on the ends of the rafter tails. Wood fascia on a deep overhang needs the tails to be sound, and the spec should say whether the tails will be inspected and replaced with the fascia or left as they are. A metal fascia cover over wood needs its own length, so ask whether the cover runs down to the drip edge or stops short of it. Those lines belong in the roof spec, not in a finish note at the end.
Soffit is the next decision. Vented soffit panels come in set widths, and the overhang sets how much of the underside is left between the wall and the fascia. A narrow overhang may leave too little room for the intake vent that the attic ventilation needs. A wide one may need blocking so the panels do not sag, and that blocking is a separate line. Ask what soffit width each bid assumes, and whether the intake area is counted toward the net free area the attic needs.
Ice is the St. Louis factor. The freeze and thaw cycle in January and February builds ice at the eave, and a longer overhang puts more of the shingle edge out over the gutter, where meltwater refreezes. The ice and water shield should run from the eave edge up the deck a set distance, and that distance should be written in feet. The overhang does not change the distance, but it changes where the edge sits relative to the gutter, which is exactly where the water turns to ice. A spec that names the membrane without naming the coverage distance leaves the most important ice zone unmeasured.
Wind works on the edge too. On a windy day, the shingles at the rake and eave take uplift first, and a wide overhang gives the wind more leverage on the edge courses. When the overhang is wider than standard, ask the bid to name the nail pattern at the rake and eave, not only the nail pattern in the field. Hail adds a separate concern. On many roofs the edge metal takes the first hit from the storm, and a wider drip edge and fascia present more metal to be struck. Keep the overhang edge on each elevation in the photo file, so the condition of the metal is recorded before the work starts.
What it costs
Overhang changes cost in ways that do not show up in the square count. Fascia, drip edge and soffit are commonly priced by the linear foot, and the linear foot count comes from the eave and rake lengths, not from the roof area. A house with a deep overhang on every side can need far more edge metal than a house with the same roof area and shallow eaves. Ask each roofer to state the linear feet of drip edge, fascia and soffit as separate lines, with the per-foot price on each one, so the edge work can be compared across bids without guessing.
Blocking, wood replacement and rafter tail repair are often priced on the day unless the bid says otherwise. If the overhang is deep and the tails are soft, the unit price for replacing one tail should be in the bid before the ladder goes up. Keys Roofing writes that unit price into the scope, along with the photos and measurements, so the homeowner has the figure in hand before the work begins. The homeowner keeps that document for their own records.
Gutter length and hanger spacing follow the overhang as well. A wider projection moves the gutter outward, which changes the bracket length and can change how the gutter apron sits under the shingles. Ask whether the gutter line is in the roof bid or in a separate quote, because the answer changes the total on the page. A roof bid that says nothing about the gutter has not priced the edge the gutter depends on.
Watch for the word "included" next to the edge lines. A bid can include drip edge in the roof total while leaving out the fascia replacement, the soffit blocking and the tail repair, and each of those can be a few hundred dollars once the lengths are multiplied out. Compare the edge lines first, then compare the totals.
What to ask
- What is the overhang on the eaves and on the rakes, in inches, on every elevation?
- What drip edge profile, leg depth and flange width does the bid name against that overhang?
- How many linear feet of fascia, drip edge and soffit does the bid count, and what does each foot cost?
- How far up the deck does the ice and water shield run, in feet, measured from the eave edge?
- What nail pattern is used at the rake and eave when the overhang is wider than standard?
- Who replaces soft rafter tails if they are found on the day, and at what unit price?
- Is the gutter line in this bid, or in a separate quote?
Write the answers into the spec and ask the roofer to repeat them back in writing. If the answer to any of these is "we will see when we open it," the bid has left the overhang open, and the open number is where a change order will come from. Call the Keys office at (314) 220-2333 with the overhang measurements from your house and the bid lines in front of you, and the questions above can be checked one line at a time.