Is upper gutter needed?

[peter]

On a multi-story house, some section of the upper gutters do not have a direct connection to the ground level storm drain, but instead dump its water onto the lower level roof, which eventually reach another gutter that drains to the storm drain.

Why do I need this type of gutter? Without it, the water would run off the upper roof and drop down to the lower roof anyway.

I'm trying to see if I can reduce the amount of gutters on my house to ease cleaning and to reduce cost should I replace them with new and better gutters.

[trader4]

"On a multi-story house, some section of the upper gutters do not have a direct connection to the ground level storm drain, but instead dump its

water onto the lower level roof, which eventually reach another gutter that drains to the storm drain.

Why do I need this type of gutter? Without it, the water would run off the upper roof and drop down to the lower roof anyway. "

I have a roof section where there is no gutter on the upper story. It overhangs the garage roof and it works fine. The garage roof is even relatively low pitch and in 17 years, no problem. One thing that you would think might happen would be more erosion of the shingles near where the water lands, but I see no evidence of that.

Having said that, in my case, I am probably going to put in a gutter there. That's because the upper roof is about 7 feet longer than the garage roof, which means in that last 7 foot section water drops all the way to the ground. To keep that water away from the house would require either a short gutter which would look stupid, or else one that runs the length of the upper roof.

So, that leads to another realted question. In my case, there is no way to get the water from the upper gutter down to the ground. It would have to use a leader taking it down to the garage roof. So now I'd have that water exiting all in one spot on the garage roof. Is that OK? Any problem with erosion of the shingles?

[hwm54112]

It would look stupid not to have a gutter where one should be

it would be noisy in heavy rain

dirt from lower roof would splash onto wall

lower roof would discolor unevenly

possible uneven discolor of wall due to excess water splashing on it

damage to lower roof over time

etc.

[Bert Byfield]

To whom?

Rain sounds are way cool. Gutters are not even entirely necessary. While gutters hauling away rain water and ejecting it away from the foundation are a good thing, one need not become overly compulsive about the subject.

[maradcliff]

Others replied and stated the truth about splashing and the like. However, if you have a downspout draining onto a lower roof, then going to another gutter, you are going to wear away that lower roof where the downspout drains out. I know this for fact, because I saw it happen. Both gutters should go directly to the ground or storm drain.

You CAN install a TEE and larger pipe below the lower level and combine the pipes.

Mark

[hwm54112]

To anyone who knows what a house should look like such as a home inspector, future buyer, etc.

[Bert Byfield]

And if you don't care about *them* ?