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Gutter Alternatives

dustinpockets | Posted in General Discussion on March 8, 2007 09:52am

The recent post about gutters set me to thinking about the entire roof water system.  Gutters are a fact of life for most of us and the system usually works well enough for me in Michigan—until last weeks mid-winter rain proved otherwise.<!—-> <!—-><!—->

<!—->  <!—->

Compacted snow covering the downspout extensions effective plugged them.  Water trickling across the normally dry basement was the first clue and closer inspection revealed water squirting from the elbow at the bottom of the downspout.   Warmer basement walls thawed the frozen soil enough to allow the water to drain along the wall to the foundation and into the basement since the footer drains are silted up.  And yes, the gutters, downspouts, elbows and extensions were cleaned late last fall to remove any leaves or debris. Those are the facts, the question is; <!—-><!—->

<!—->  <!—->

What simple gutter replacement system would you use in my soon-to-be-build retirement home in mid-Michigan?   Story and half, ICF basement, on a wooded, sloping, sandy lot.  Keep in mind; ladders get steeper as we age, power outages occur, no monitoring required as we may be visiting the grandchildren in some warm place. What is needed is something simple, unsupervised and unpowered.<!—-> <!—->

<!—->  <!—->

  Leaf-shedding gutters may eliminate the cleaning, but how to eliminate the downstream freeze up?  The downspouts aren’t likely to freeze but now I know the extensions can. <!—-> <!—->

   Open troughs instead of extensions wouldn’t cause a backup but would interfere with foot traffic and aesthetics. <!—-><!—->

   Burying the extensions would mean going 4 foot down but putting more water anywhere near the foundation is asking for other problems. <!—-> <!—->

   Heating the downspout and extensions would require continuing expense or operator intervention and still be subject to power interruptions.   <!—-> <!—->

<!—->  <!—->

What do the brethren of Breaktime suggest?<!—-><!—->

<!—->  <!—->

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Replies

  1. fingers | Mar 08, 2007 09:55pm | #1

    Don't use gutters.

    1. MikeSmith | Mar 08, 2007 10:14pm | #2

      a woode, sloping , sandy  lot is a piecce of cake for draining away from a foundation..

       go back to that other thread for your answers... starting a new thread is a distraction

      http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=86781.11Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

  2. Stuart | Mar 08, 2007 10:22pm | #3

    I switched to Leafguard brand gutters on my house a couple years ago.  They work great as far as keeping the leaves and seeds and sticks and things out; I've gotten up on a ladder several times and peeked inside, and they stay clean as a whistle.

    There is an interesting phenomenon that happens in late winter, when the snow starts melting - where the top cover curves down towards the gutter section there's a horizontal gap, and ice will build up along the length of that gap, kind of like a long horizontal icicle.

    View Image

    Eventually, when it gets warm enough, that big long hunk of ice tends to fall off all at once, and it lands on the ground with a big WHUMP! sound.  It did startle me the first time it happened but it doesn't seem to hurt anything, although I suppose you wouldn't want to be standing right under the gutter when it happens.

    I've never noticed the downspouts getting clogged with ice during mid-winter thaws. 



    Edited 3/8/2007 2:25 pm by Stuart

  3. DanH | Mar 08, 2007 10:22pm | #4

    By "extension", what do you mean? A piece of downspout material stuck on the end of the elbow at the bottom of the downspout? These should be removed in the fall, prior to snow season.

    If you mean the extensions are pipes buried in the ground, there should always be an "escape route" in the downspout near where it enters the ground, so that water can get out if the underground pipe is plugged.

    Soil near the house should be well sloped away from the foundation, to prevent any pooling of water there.

    So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
  4. jimcco | Mar 08, 2007 10:29pm | #5

    With an inplace situation you can use the same roof thawing heat cable system being used on older houses with ice dam problems, Just drop a length of it down the spout. You can even lay it in the bottom of the gutter.

    Be sure you have it plugged into a switched outlet. Might consider GFCI protected one. Put the switch where it is very visable and use one with an indicator light so you will remember to turn it off.

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