can you screw vinyl gutters directly into rafter tails (no room for fascia boards)

[mark charon]

hi, our contractor just removed the old roof and installed a new one and he left only about 1 inch of shingle overhang from the eave edge, which leaves no room to install fascia boards (our house never had them.)

the old gutters slipped underneath the shingles and were nailed into the sheathing. with the new gutters, i prefer not to install them this way because i am afraid that while lifting the

shingles to make space for nailing the gutters, i might damage the shingles. (the shingles are 2 dimensional and seem pretty hard to work with.)

i am thinking of installing vinyl gutters, screwing them directly into the rafter tails. will this method be

strong enough to hold the gutters in place??

if so, the gutter will need to be about 55 ft long and if i scew them into rafter tails, i can afford only about 3 inch drop end to end. i know this doesn't meet the drop recommendation, but will this still be ok? (we live in san jose, california, and ti doesn't seem to rain very much.)

also, while i am at it, do you recommend that i install drip edge? if i do, then i definitely have to slip it underneath the shingles and nail the drip edge. touching the shingles is what i am trying

to avoid, so i am hoping it's not necessary to install a drip edge.

if screwing vinyl gutters into the rafter tails is not the best option, what would you suggest??

also, should soffits be painted to protect them from the elements?

thank you in advance..

[Eric Ryder]

I'd recommend that you use a gutter mount clip that will allow thermal expansion (vinyl gutters really move!).

I won't use vinyl sectioned gutters for a long run again, the splices in the last ones I did weree a miserable failure.

IMO, drip edge is necessary in snow country - I'm not so sure about Cali.

[David Meiland]

Mark...

This is backwards. The roofer should have installed gutters first, the drip edge next, then the roof. I lived in the Bay Area and it doesn't rain as much as it does here, but we still did tons of rot repairs there because of water infiltration.

You want all of your exterior wood painted. Ideally you want a fascia board because it makes the gutter install a lot more robust, and if it were me I'd cut the tails off to make room for a 1x fascia. It's a hassle but you can plumb-cut all of them back with a handsaw or sawzall. A fascia board means you are not trying to seat screws into the endgrain of the rafters. Endgrain doesn't hold screws as well as face.

Anyway, you should probably consult the gutter manufacturer and see if they have reqs about how the product is installed. I have never installed vinyl but assume it's not that rigid and should be well supported.

[Chas Hurst]

Isn't the fascia board attached to the end grain of the rafter?

[David Meiland]

Yeah, but if you want to you can also connect the roof deck to the top of the fascia.

[Chas Hurst]

Yes, one can. And I have done so. The roof is on, however, and there appears to be (according to the OP) no sheathing overhanging the rafter tails.