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A unique downspout

| Posted in Construction Techniques on April 18, 2004 09:18am

In building my dream house at Manzanita Oregon (N. Oregon Coast), I have thought of many ways to make it unique and  the highest quality while being functional.

With a 4- valley roof (to attain the maximum height allowed) and a 3rd floor deck, I ended up with 3 valley collectors with down spouts and a small length of gutter and 3″ downspount around my 3rd floor deck. Unfortunately, this downspout had to run down the front of the house, turn and run back along side before running down into the perimeter downspout drain. Ugly.

So I decided to upgrade the frontal appearnace of this downspout, and the below attached .jpg file shows what I came up with.

What do you think?

Bruce

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Replies

  1. plantlust | Apr 18, 2004 09:38am | #1

    How totally gorgeous!!  My compliments on showing that art can be functional, practical AND beautiful.

    Multiple thumbs up, lots of cheering and judges raising placards w/"10"s on them.

    It IS possible!  To Rhinocoat a windowbox is approx 50-75USD for a box 7-8 inches deep by 7 inches wide by 7-8ft long.  Life is good. 

  2. xMikeSmith | Apr 18, 2004 01:05pm | #2

    bruce.... great... i'm putting that with Roger Dumas' Striper

    BTW... most can't view a file that big... use Irfanview to convert it to  .jpg and resize it

    here...

    Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

  3. ian | Apr 18, 2004 01:49pm | #3

    Brilliant response to the problem

    Ian

  4. MojoMan | Apr 18, 2004 01:58pm | #4

    Bruce: Beautiful and amazing, but...

         When the eel in the reef

         Bites your heel with its teeth,

         That's AMORAY!

    Al Mollitor, Sharon MA

  5. User avater
    CloudHidden | Apr 18, 2004 03:12pm | #5

    Definitely something for the Finishing Touches pages of FHB. More people should see that.

  6. DanH | Apr 18, 2004 03:13pm | #6

    Ah, lemonade!!

  7. User avater
    SamT | Apr 18, 2004 03:17pm | #7

    View Image View Image View Image View Image View Image

    Arguing with a Breaktimer is like mud-wrestling a pig -- Sooner or later you find out the pig loves it. Andy Engel

  8. calvin | Apr 18, 2004 05:07pm | #8

    Bruce.

    Cloud is right. 

    Send that in to the mag.

    Form and function.  A real pc. of art.

    Thanks

    Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

    Quittin' Time

  9. reinvent | Apr 18, 2004 05:32pm | #9

    Really nice touch. Thats the sort of thing that makes a house a home. Did you coat the copper or are you gonna let it turn?

  10. darrel | Apr 18, 2004 05:45pm | #10

    Wonderful! Would also love to see a photo of your house's solution to maximum roof line issue.

    1. rez | Apr 18, 2004 06:23pm | #11

       

      Holy Cow!

      Alright, but the next time I'm charging ya.

      1. BruceM16 | Apr 19, 2004 02:18am | #16

        Rez

        Thanks for the resize. Just got my digital camera...kinda kickin-n-screamin, as I've been a lifetime photographer using REAL film...but alas...technology. I just ain't figured it all out yet. And I'm sure that whatever you charge for this service next time, will be a deal at twice the price!

        Thanks for all the thoughtful and encouraging replys to everyone...but I have a confession...I didn't make it. As I've told the 100 or so passersby who inquire, I may be talented, but I'm not THAT talented. Nope....acquired it. Here's the story, in case others might be interested in adding such art to your hard work.

        Vladimir Sumchenko is a Russian emigree who, as it happens, lives near me, and who I found at a local home improvement show. His Emglish isn't too good, and often his son acts as translator. Anyway, I sketched out what I was looking for, and being the combination coppersmith and artist that he is, said he had just the piece of artwork. He simply asked for dimensions (upper gutter drain point to lower gutter receiving point....in 3 dimensions. Now, I wound up having to give this to him via my cell phone from my third floor deck, repeating everything 3 times as his assimilation of English isn't quite there yet and his son wasn't available. After I hung up, I thought, Oh no...he won't be able to get these dimensions right, and I just wasted my money". But long story short...he did...perfectly. We installed it the following week in only about an hour...and it is rigidly fastened (the little jumping fish are also serving as hold brackets).

        This Chinook downspout is actually one of his easier designs. Otta see his complicated stuff. In fact, take a look at his web site, at http://www.artofrain.com.

        And no, I decided not to try to keep the copper shiny...toooooo difficult. It took 3 days to brown out...and hopefully, will get the green patina sooner than later.

        BTW, I have no connection to Vlad or his products, so this is not an infomercial. I'm nothing more than a satisfied customer.

        Now, back to my house wiring. Oh, and for the previous poster who asked about how I was able to get 3 livng floors out of a 28 ft 6 in total hight restriction (sorry, I can't go back and read the post from this page), I'm attaching a full pic of the house that'll give you an idea of this unique design.

        Bruce

        1. reinvent | Apr 19, 2004 02:59am | #17

          If you dont mind me asking, how much was the downspout?

        2. rez | Apr 19, 2004 04:32am | #18

          24441.1  Bruce, you can click on this 24441.1 number and it will take you to an old thread of concentrated data regarding a pic sizing download called irfanview.

           A lot of folks that post pics here find it useful.

          Holy Cow!

          Alright, but the next time I'm charging ya.

        3. DougU | Apr 19, 2004 05:28am | #19

          Bruce

          Very nice!

          1. DOCTORJOEY3 | Apr 19, 2004 10:25am | #22

            Ingenuity at its best.............

            Joe3

  11. User avater
    Sphere | Apr 18, 2004 10:05pm | #12

    fantastic!..brilliant, and boldy beautiful..I want one.

    View Image

    Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

    Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

    1. Snort | Apr 18, 2004 11:31pm | #13

      Now that is custom. Beautiful! Don't worry, we can fix that later!

  12. SEBDESN | Apr 19, 2004 12:00am | #14

    Bruce, neat job. Fits in well with the area...

    We looked at a house there 5 or 6 years ago, It was three or four blocks north up the hill,right on the face going down to the ocean. It sure looked like it was going to slide off into the ocean, and it was very cheep (relativly). Wonder if it ever went west???(as opposed to south lol)

  13. MisterT | Apr 19, 2004 12:14am | #15

    Way cool!!

    or as my 11 y.o. says

    Phat, dope and way cool!!

    By the way if you did that for my house would it cost much more than white aluminum?

    Oh that much!!??

    why so expensive?

    :)

    Mr T

    Happiness is a cold wet nose

    Life is is never to busy to stop and pet the Doggies!!

  14. CAGIV | Apr 19, 2004 06:48am | #20

    Inspiring.

    great problem solving, looks like you turned a potential problem into a great working solution, that alone is a great skill.

    Team Logo

  15. 4Lorn2 | Apr 19, 2004 07:57am | #21

    Nice. Very nice.

    Looks like you thought things out. Is that a clean out at the bottom in line with the more hoizontal section?

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