Gaps after roof reinstall

Hi there!
A homeowner here with a question. I would greatly appreciate your time and professional expertise in answering it.

The roof (original was 16 y.o.) was replaced a year ago via the insurance claim. This is Northern Florida.
I did not pay any attention to the spots where 2 roof surfaces intersect, or where stucco/soffit meets the roof (see the pictures), and the contractor did not mention anything to me either.

The reason I started to look there is that a family of squirrels moved into my attic, chewed on a couple of wires and some of the outlets stopped working…
And then I saw them squirrels coming in and out from those gaps.
What is the best course of action here, in your opinion?

Is this a roofing issue or a construction/stucco issue?
Thank you in advance for your answers!





Aside from the possiblity of the roofers kinking the soffit J-Channel while they were removing the old membrane, this is an issue that should be addressed outside the scope of the roofer’s work. We encounter an eerily similar, and recurring, gapping problem when we convert a wood shake roof to an asphalt roof. From my years of experience, trust me when I say you do not want the roofers attending to this as they wrongly get blamed for this far too often and risk “grudge fixing” it for you. Find a soffit and fascia expert and get them to make it all pretty and tight.

This is an area that rarely is finished properly at the time of build because it is very hard to see … so who cares right? The only time it’s noticed by home owners is when reroofing and guess who gets the blame?

Hope that helps.

Added: Trying to fashion something from metal to close off this area is really tough because it’s hard to reach from a ladder or from the roof. We’ve tried everything and I’m never really satisfied with the finish. Have a look at this product as you might be able to sculpt it into the gaps and then paint it? Tileman, who is a member here, may be familiar with this product and whether it might offer a solution worth exploring?

https://flexim.eu/en/

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Before closing the gaps you must remove the raccoons, bats, and squirrels. If you do not, they will return and create more damage. Any of those gaps could have been closed with flashing when it was being shingled. Sloppy work by the contractor, IMHO. The estimator should have worked it into the bid, or noted there were voids that needed to be addressed.

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Ivo,
That product can be handy but in my experience steel wool has to be added to any filling agent or rats will chew through it. Never used flexim as we are used to true mortar so not sure if it hardens enough to keep animals away.

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Thanks for your insight Tileman. On homes in our vicinity, these areas are seldom finished properly at the time of build and almost always present a gap. After one or two reroofs, the gap tends to widen leaving just enough room for a variety of critters to find a home. To repair this properly with soffit presents the challenge of sourcing a matching product, which thanks to frequent product obsolescence, makes it a near impossible effort. Two and three panel soffits are not available anymore and vinyl soffit panels have been out of our market for many years. Finding someone skilled with a metal brake is tough as most components that required bending have been replaced with composites such as SmartTrim.

From a biusiness perspective, the estimator should indeed identify this at the onset as its wise to table this as a pre-existing condition. No arguement there. The question is hows does one fix this so it looks good and seals the area aestetically and functionally. That’s why I lean toward sculpting something into the gap and painting it a matching color.

I’ve never used Flexim and happened across it in a YouTube video. It claims to be suited for fixing gaps as a alternate use and it can be painted, which seems to make sense. Expanding foam doesn’t know when to stop expanding, generally leaves a mess and is a nightmare to tidy.

Never thought of the steel wool angle as I tend to recommended the BB gun approach. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to sit well with the current generation. :wink:

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You’ve already got good info from the guys, so my remedy is what works for us in Southeast Texas.
This is going to sound so simple and you will be correct. We take 2x2 dripedge. Cut it to fit the gap in width and whatever trimming you have. Use an adhesive caulk. Glue the drip edge to the shingle and slide it on the roof, till it touches the soffit. I’ve never thought about taking a picture of what we do, but it works and it’s simple
Big gaps, we place a treated 2x4, glued to the shingle and cut the angle of the soffit. Never had a call back. Seen lots of raccoon scratching around our closures, but not an entry.

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If you don’t have a break,you can break coil stock on a ladder rail, you have to make the bend a little at a time. Usually takes about three bends to get it straight and sharp. Open the bend to twice the size of the gap and push it in place for a tension fit. Caulk under the bottom so it doesn’t look like crap, get a nail in it to stabilize. After you do it a couple times it’s easy and only takes a couple minutes. Mothballs at critter entry points will help keep them out also.

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I think the re-roof is fine. Agree with others that a piece of coil stock could be bent to close the gap for asthetic purposes.

I had squirrels in my attic that were entering through a hole they chewed thru a cedar fascia. I screwed double folded aluminum coil stock over the hole. They ate right thru it by the next day.
I live trapped the litter and shot the elders in the tree they used to jump on the roof.

Get them out first and then use steel wool covered by hardware cloth to close the gap before installing the coil stock trim.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and ideas on the matter.
I will definitely get rid of the squirrels before taking any actions on the exterior. The problem is that most of those areas are located almost at the ridge, like 50-60 ft above the ground as I have 2 stories + the attic height, which makes it extremely difficult and dangerous to do it myself.
I will try to pressure the roofing contractor to take some action there as they charged my insurance company a very premium price for that work. Looks like I made a few first-home owner mistakes there :confused:

We charge close to top dollar for our reroofs. If we completed one and pests were entering gaps I would feel personally responsible and would do what it took to remedy the situation. This is a very common area for pest infiltration. Many times soffits are run just short of the roofing and let rats, birds, bats in. When we get calls regarding pests the first thing I ask the customer is if they have closed soffits. The roofer should absolutely be on the hook for this.

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Roofer did a good job.
I dont see any roofer issues.

The gutter system needs to be reworked.
Dumping on the roof will ruin it every time.

“Roofer did great” etc, etc, etc