Gutters? Yes or No

[Pirate]

I have to repair some recent storm damage. I am at the point of deciding whether or not to keep the gutters on. Hail destroyed almost all of my gutter guards, which clog up all the time anyway from the trees.

You can see how my home is built right on top of a small ridge. The front porch overhang is 8 feet out from basement.

The rear of the house has the basement full exposed.

Do I really need gutters on this type of place?

 

[Thomas]

Rain water spash onto deck than on to window/door casting will there be chance of wood rot to come.

Do you have any cemment cracks in wall/floor in which long peroid of rain may find its way into.

I took my gutters down do from pine needles and leaves clogging,but after two good storms there back up to stay.

 

[dodge man]

I think you'd miss them. The very least it will rut the ground where the water runs off.

 

[moored4]

All of the above have good points!:thumbsup:

YES KEEP THE GUTTERs

they make leaf "things" (don't know the real names right now) that help keep needles and stuff out, they also help snow to shed off the roof during thaw out

Ps. Nice looking House!

 

[dmccarty]

I HATE gutters. PITA.

We built our new house six years ago, no gutters, no problems.

I did design the house so that most of the house has 28 inches of roof overhang or a porch to keep water away from the side of the house. The only place we have "issues"with water off the roof is where we have two roof valleys. We just put rocks do deal with the water. Same idea as the cement channels at the base of a down spout.

IF water was a problem on the ground I would trench out under the roof overhang and put in gravel wrapped in geotextile fabric, and maybe drainage pipe, to get the water away from the house. I had to do something similar in our old city house where the water from our house gutters as well as a neighbors gutters were dropping huge amounts of water and the soil could not handle the load.

I no longer have to worry about ice dams, clogged gutters or downspouts, cleaning same, etc.

Later,
Dan

 

[beenthere]

I've never had gutters (built home 1968 w/3' overhang). I deal with the water after it hits the ground. i.e. have a form of gutter at ground level.
The main reason is buildup of ice from winter with gutters, which the OP prolly doesn't have to deal with so much.
The secondary reason, is not having to clean the gutters.

 

[Bird]

Our house has a hip roof, 2' overhang, the shop is under the same roof, just 12' through a breezeway/patio, and we have gutters all the way around except on the south side of the main part of the house. Concrete parking/storage is built right up to the house on that side. Keeping the gutter cleaned out on the north side of the shop is a nuisance because of the live oak tree right beside it, but I still prefer having gutters.

 

[SandburRanch]

I wouldn't put gutters on another house if I built a new house every year and lived to be 500.

Maybe at age 501 but there wouldn't be any down spouts or end caps. When raining the stream would look similar to a clear water cow pizzing on a flat rock I put there.

And the first contractor that shows up on the job site with a sack of long nails to go through the fascia gets sent back.

 

[bdeboer]

Here the insurance company requires them. My parents have never had them in an area with sand. Different state same insurance company.

I do think that they can be elimated with proper grading and drainage and large overhangs never hurt either.

 

[jobguy]

I used to install gutters. We got lots of calls to Replace, Fix and change gutters so they sloped enough to drain/stop leaks. If your dirt slopes away from the foundation and,, you have enough overhang, at least a foot, and,,,,, you can put something on the ground under the drip line you will not need gutters. Gutters cause enough damage due to ice and trash build-up to make repairman a good living. Without gutters you will most likely NEVER have to remove snow and ice dams from your roof (notice I said most likely, never say never). I have a 24 inch overhang live in MN and have no guttes and my roof never leaks from ice dams. I built this house 43 years ago.

 

[Bird]

you can put something on the ground under the drip line you will not need gutters.

So what would you put there?

 

[jinman]

I love my gutters because I have almost 4' of overhang on my roof eaves and I like to walk outside on my deck sometimes when it is raining or maybe even cook on my propane grill up under the overhang. Without gutters, I'd get splashed big time and my stain on my cedar siding would get constantly wash off the lower boards. My vote is for gutters if you don't have lots of snow buildup. In 10 years, I've only had a slight damage from snow once to one gutter where the outer edge was bent down about 3/4".

 

[Mounted Madness]

All good points.

Also, I'd consider your soil as well.
If it's clay, and pretty saturated already due to spring rains, you might want gutters to aid in runoff.
Here on our clay, everyone has gutters - and we have real winters!
Do you have weeping tiles around the house? Ground slope (as mentioned) can play havoc, freeze/thaw as well (again, something we have to consider up here).

I've contemplated putting gutters on my shop, but it's on a slab and I'm putting gravel around the foundation out past the drip line. Plus it's on a slightly higher grade then my house.

By the way, nice place you have there.:thumbsup:

 

[Gods Country]

I would have to say for most people gutters solve more issues then they create. I would rather clean and maintain my gutters than have to concern myself with the long term effects of just what the water is damaging which may not be obvious until it's become a costly repair.
YMMV

 

[Pirate]

Thanks for the replies. The only water damage I ever had to the house was from a gutter backing up too much. My own fault. I don't like how they nailed them in. The gutter guards don't stay on good. I'll have to think about what to do.