$*#% Gutters & Downspouts

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Am in an old neighborhood. LOTS of trees and I personally love them. Did though do a drastic pruning to the giant elm that used to overhang the house on one side and storm took care of an awful volunteer (before my ownership) locust on the other. Still however lots of "helicopter" maples, walnuts, pecan, etc.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Hey Constantin: Enough experience yet with those water permeable foam blocks that fill your gutters to know if it truly works?

Had the "best" gutter guards installed about 10 years ago and they are absolute crap!!!!! It's been very dry here for months--just a few gentle showers. Nice downpour this afternoon. Gutters AGAIN all clogged at the downspouts! Only two are reasonbly accessible--the rest are 20'-30' above grade so cleaning is no easy chore--particularly when you have to remove the fu¢&(ng screens to access!

"Bumped out" a small roof section to enlarge old trunk room to make good-sized master bath. One end of the bumpout roof is under a valley but protected by overhanging eave (10" deep) inside corner. When the wind blows just right in heavy rain and the downspouts nearby are clogged I get a slight leak. Have no idea how water gets in, but it does. At least it's over the tub...

Have seriously considered making a gutter washing system with sprays directed into the gutters and down the downspouts, but still haven't done it. Pipe will sit on top of the gutter screens and once done, access will be even more difficult...

[Deleted User]

Gutters


That is why I have done away with gutters completely.
I recently bought an old house with several ells and wings and roof gables, etc. and there was a mess of gutters and downspouts all over the place. I removed all of them when I had the roof re-done and I re-graded all of the perimeter of the house with a proper slope, put plastic down under crushed stone under the drip edges all around the property and just made sure everyhting has a natural slope away from the house.

Whereas before I used to get water in the cellar, etc. now, even after that last 10 days of rain we had here in New England I am bone dry. The beauty is there is nothing to clog or clean and nothing to ever back up. I simply let topogrpahy and gravity do the trick.

Also, the house looks alot cleaner and better without gutters and downspouts all over the place.

I will never have another gutter again if I can help it.

bob young

noise

what about the noise factor that the removal of gutters creates ? i have a hole in a gutter and the noise is deafening. yours must be far worse.

Gordy

Gutter Battle !

I don't think there is a gutter gaurd on the market that will not require some cleaning periodically......But they should not let the gutters get full of garb. All depends on the type of tree factor. Constantin's type of gaurds will be suseptible also in time. He does have his shingle treatment in his favor, no granuales from a composite shingle to clog the sponge. I installed 5" howitzer down spouts, and 5" gutters after battling with the Burr oaks also intalled the gaurds. They will take a squirrel through the down spout no problem. Issue solved!!


Acorns ahww nuts Gordy

Foreman

Guess Im lucky..



I have a bucket truck, yes, Sparky's do read these posts!!

Gordy

Form serves function

When the acorns fall I get this sudden urge....That Smell from Lynard Skynard starts to play in my head. Whiskey bottles, Brand new cars.......Oak Tree your in my way. But the shade that 150 year old oak gives my house in the summer is worth the hassle. Sounds like you have the worst of all the Tree debris you can muster in your neck of the woods.

Bob W._3

I once asked a friend with a degree in forestry the best way to trim a soft maple. He said "as close to the ground as you can get."

[Deleted User]

There is no noise since the flow is not concentrated in one spot like it would be from a hole in a gutter. Instead, the water is evenly distributed along the entire drip edge and then just falls to the gravel/stone below. I haven't noticed it to be particularly noisey anywhere compared to a normal gutter system, but then again maybe I am just used to it.

PM_2

Vermont Gutters

I'm on the same page with the no gutter guys. Here in Vermont, all of the gutter owners have this annual rite of spring... picking up the mangled gutters up from the yard and installing new ones. Exterior doors should be in gable ends anyway. Big overhangs and a good backfilling job, and life is good. Gravity seems to be reasonable reliable.

Constantin

Hi Mike!

Sorry for the late reply, I have been traveling and no time to catch up with the Wall until now. We used Leaf Defier, a product similar to GutterFilter. It cost about $4 a LF and we filled all the gutters with it.

I will try to dig up a picture of the stuff inside the gutters to give you an idea how it deals with leaves. My observation so far is that it is doing very well at higher elevations where the winds are strong enough to blow most seedlings, leaves, etc. right off the stuff, as advertised. A little debris remains, but since the product is so easy to put in and remove (compared to the competition), I'm happy with the performance.

I imagine that the self-cleaning properties of leaf-defier (like all brands) depends largely on the air-speed around the house. If you're totally sheltered, it will not perform as well as if you're exposed to some wind from time to time. Leaf defier worked well up on the third floor, whether around the perimeter of the flat roof or the Mansard section. This is for a house surrounded by mature, 50'+ trees consisting of maples, tulip trees, oaks, and cherries.

The only area that isn't doing so well is a gutter lower down for the roof over our porch. The trees seem to shield the worst of the wind from there, and we've had some debris build-up as a result. On the other hand, this area is much easier and safer to clean than the higher elevations. As a result, I am happy with the product. I'll try and dig up a picture or two and post them for you. Cheers!