Strange gutter configuration

[DerbyDad03]

As I was driving to work today I noticed a strange gutter configuration on a house.

I'll classify the house as "high end"...several thousand square feet, all brick, nice dormers, landscaping, etc. It was a really nice house in an expensive neighborhood. I couldn't tell just by driving by if it was fairly new or decades old.

The section of the house that contained the garage and rooms above was at a right angle to main house. On the side of that garage section there was a single window on the second floor, right in the middle.

There was a section of gutter and a downspout on the right and left of the window, but over the window itself the roof extended out creating a slight overhang. There was no gutter over the window.

It looked OK...nice and symmetrical - even lengths of gutters and a downspout at the ends away from the window.

However, I have to question the decision to leave a ~4' section of roof without a gutter. The sides of the main house also has windows on the second floor, but on that section they use a single length of gutter for the entire side.

Would you, for apparently aesthetics reasons only, leave a section of a roof without gutters?

(No, at this point, I do not know what is below the section without the gutter, i.e. blacktop, bushes, etc. I'll have to see if I can find out without getting arrested for trespassing.)

[dpb]

On 10/14/2011 9:17 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

...

What's so bad about that? Heck, we don't have gutters at all....

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[RicodJour]

Which for many houses would lead to a slow and prolonged death, highlighted by short periods of flooding to break up the monotony.

R

[RicodJour]

I'm assuming by your surprise, and reading between the lines, that the window in question is in a dormer of some sort, and that it has a flat roof, and not a gable, pitched in the same direction as the main roof.

The question is - how much roof is above that window, and have diverters been installed to direct the water towards either side?

R

[dadiOH]

Sure. I have roughly 400' of roof line without gutters.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

For one year we lived in a townhouse complex with no gutters. Water poured off the roof into the window wells and flooded the basements.

Perce

[krw]

Can't even hang them on mine.

[DerbyDad03]

Either I should have been clearer or you shouldn't have read between the lines.

Why would I have been suprised by a roof/gutter system that directed water into the gutters as opposed to letting it flow off the roof over the window and onto the ground? We see those types of systems everyday, depending on the style of roof, so there would have been no reason for me to post about it.

As a visual, pretend that the "garage" in this picture is 2 stories and that the window is on the second floor.

Now pretend that there is a gutter and downspout on each side of the window, but not over the window. Over the window, the roof is extended to at least the same plane as the front of the gutters so water wouldn't be running down the front of the window itself, but would flow out and down.

My only point is that they installed gutters everywhere else on the house but chose not to use gutters over this window for (I assume) aesthetic purposes. Why else would they have gone through the trouble of the extra downspout and extended roof if it wasn't just for looks?

Serious question: If it wasn't for aesthetics, can you think of a reason why they would want the water from over that window to reach the ground directly?

[dpb]

Well, there are many here which are at least approach 100 like ours that haven't suffered such fates...all depends on the climate and locale.

Certainly, even back where it did rain when in TN/VA I'd think little of a short section being likely to be a major disaster.

[DerbyDad03]

But I'm not talking about choosing to have *no* gutters, I'm talking about 99% of the house having gutters, just not over this window. I can only assume that it's for aesthetic purposes.

The way I see it is that if someone is in the camp that feels that gutters are worthwhile to have, why pick one window to not have them over - considering the extra work required to install 2 sections with

2 downspouts instead of just one long section and one downspout. In addition, you now have to deal the water coming from 2 downspouts, not one. Might not be a major issue, but still something that has to be dealt with.

Just seems a little odd, to me at least.

[DerbyDad03]

The house in question is in Western NY where the average rainfall is ~33 inches/year.

[mkirsch1]

Other than aesthetics, there is no reason. The window was designed that way, probably for the same reason people install artificial waterfalls. Someone likes to sit in that window during a rain storm and watch the water fall off the roof. Could be someone with special needs like autism for all we know.

A short section of roof dripping is not going to cause a flooded basement if the rest of the roof is diverted properly with gutters. Of course they could have taken further precautions with this section of wall by installing a drain directly below.

Maybe you can catch someone in the front yard as you pass by sometime. Compliment them on the beautiful house and how that particular architectural feature fascinates you.

[krw]

Our average annual rainfall is 53". Due to the design of the house, gutters aren't possible. I'd like to have done something over the entrance. Water coming off the 12/12 pitch roof isn't fun to walk through and the valley between the garage (15/12) and house can get pretty intense.

OTOH, the elevation is good (lot slopes ~8' down to the street, from the house) and it's on a slab, as almost all houses here are.

[dadiOH]

Florida. Roughly 50 inches per year, mostly June - Sept.

[RicodJour]

Lacking a picture and based on your general description, who knows?

My question was if you you could see the roof above that dormer has diverters. They're not always visible from the ground, they don't stand up much, and if the roofer was doing his job he'd have used the correct color flashing so that the diverters would blend in with the shingles. The diverter could be set back from the edge, right? In fact it should/has to be.

They might have skipped the diverter and gutter, they might have build in a concealed gutter system (you said the house was high end, right?), etc.

More information => better answers.

R

[RicodJour]

You can hang gutters off of any roof. It just depends on the bracket and the type of gutter. You could also install Yankee gutters. You used to live in New England, so I'm sure you are familiar with them.

Neither would be as cheap and easy to install as fascia hung K- section, but that's neither here nor there.

R

[Jules Richardson]

The fascias on ours follow the roof pitch, rather than being vertical, so it's a pain in the butt to attach gutters. We get huge amounts of snow here too, which means big slides even if the roof is raked often - not good for gutters if it manages to catch them on the way down (BTDT).

As far as the OP's question, I think it's either aesthetics or they just got so far in the job and never quite finished it.

cheers

Jules

[krw]

Wrong, Rico, as usual. The house has exposed ornamental (fake) rafter-ends. No sofit, no fascia. There is nothing to anchor the gutters to but a sky hook.

[krw]

No fascia at all on ours. The (the fake) rafter ends are exposed.

The point is that the absence of gutters, particularly a small section, is not something that will inevitably ruin a house.

[RicodJour]

The bug up your ass has reached your brain.

Half round gutters.

Want K-section gutters? Seventh one down:

"Hanger Alum 5" K Style Wraparound White Installs 5" K Style gutter to roof with this 5" Wraparound hanger bracket. Special riveted roof strap enable gutter installation where slanted or no fascia exist. Available in White and Royal Brown only."

Want rafter attachment instead of roof?

You can ask questions, too. This is how we learn - not by saying something is not possible.

R