‘Drip edge’ on gutter - necessary?

wormwxxd

We recently had the entirety of our gutters replaced due to damage from a storm. The fixers showed me that
the drip edges at the back of the property are rotted away, and there are none installed at all at the front. He says it’s necessary to have them replaced due/ installed - £200 each side, so £400 total. 

Kick in the teeth after spending so much money on already replacing the gutters. 

Are drip edges necessary? Presumably the original gutters at the front had none installed for a reason… we’ve only had the property for a year and this is not something I’m familiar with.  

tacpot12

It depends on what they mean by drip edges. Slate and tiled roofs usually have some sort of waterproof membrane over the entire roof and this is membrane is supposed to be continued into the gutters so that any water that gets behind the tiles/slates is directed into the gutter as quickly as possible. Time has shown that these membranes benefit from having an 'eaves protection tray' placed under them to support them. This eaves protection tray/guard also is supposed to go into the gutter. 

Have a look at the diagram here: https://www.professionalbuildingsupplies.co.uk/eaves-guard-p-294254/

It is possible that by "drip edge" they mean these eaves protection trays. The trays aren't expensive to buy, but the quote to supply and fit them doesn't seem too bad. It would be more if they insisted on having scaffold up to do them!

The issue has been discussed previously on the MSE forum: Worth using eaves protectors on roof? — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Lorian

Are you able to take photos (above the gutter viewed along the roof ideally)