Hi,
I have an interesting question to ask.
I have an older home, and on it the porch slopes slightly. Enough of a slope that the gutter on it slopes the opposite way - away from the nearest downspout. The rainwater therefore spills over the gutter end and on to the yard...
How can I fix it? Other than repositioning the gutter (releveling) which isn't an option, what else? another downspout, etc. AND can I do this myself?
Thanks Rich
If you cannot reposition the gutter then you are unable to fix this. Call in any handyman or carpenter.
Thanks for the input...adding another downspout at the downward sloping end isn't an option? why not? just curious.
Jack up the low side of the porch?
I actually thought of that...but - It's an 80 year old house, and I think jacking up the low side of the porch is too expensive. I just want to keep the water from spilling over. I thought there'd be a easier and less expensive solution.
"Rich" wrote
I thought there'd be a easier and less expensive solution.
You're overthinking this. Drill a hole in the gutter. Put in a through the hull fitting. Attach hose. Run hose to where you want it to drain to. Be sure to buy one of those HGTV hoses with the vines and roses on it. And be ready to go up there and clean it out twice a week.
Get up there and fix it right or live with it.
Steve
The reason Lawrence said you cannot fix it is because if you can reposition the gutter then you may not be handy enough to add another downspout. What kind of gutter is it? Is it a regular aluminum seamless gutter? Is it one of those pvc ones, or is it one of the half round steel ones? If it is aluminum you may be able to just add another downspout. I would get an outlet, trace around the outside bottom of the outlet on the underside of the gutter, smack it from the bottom with a (sharp) straight claw hammer and give the hammer a twist when it goes through. Then I would insert a small pair of tin snips into the whole to cut along the outline of the outlet. Next I would get some sealant and seal around the lip of the new outlet, push it in through the top of the gutter until it wouldn't go any further then gently tap it the rest of the way down (being careful not to mangle it) until I see the sealant squish out the sides from under the lip. Then I'd either attach elbows if need be or just run the downspout straight down if that was all that was needed, screw it in to the new outlet and attach to the house and around the new downspout and screw through the wrap into the downspout. Then I'd add another elbow at the bottom if it didn't go into an existing drain and figure out how long to make the kicker to drain the water away from the foundation.
Shane
That's just it - I want to fix it right. I thought to fix it right I could put a new hole in the end of the one gutter and build an additional downspout. But it seems unless I am willing to spend thousands on jacking up my house or hiring someone to rip it off and put on a new one, I'm out of luck. I am the type of person who need options :) Thanks again for the help.
Options: fix it right or continue to have rotting, leakage, flooding, ice dams, and water infiltration. Let me know if those are enough.
We can go on to mold, moss, termites ...................
Steve
Not many options to defy gravity. I can't see your setup, but it may be possible to add a downspout on the low end. OTOH, if the porch is sagging, what is going to prevent collapse? You may want to do some more thinking of how to handle your very big investment that you live in.
Aw shucks. You have been nice to me and to the OP. What a rarity. It is quite nice they way you actually patiently answered his question and also explained my reluctance.
If I were to come out and work on this gutter I would want at least two extension ladders with ladder jacks which allow me to create a scaffold preferable running the entire lenght of the gutter. This would give the minimum needed to safely reposition the gutter.
Considering that the gutter is already damage and likely needs replacement it hardly matters if he does a half-assed job. Gutters have become quite a specialty and you can hire a gutter company that can do a better job than I can or any handyman can for that matter.
So why not? Chop a hole in the already damaged gutter for now and save up for one of those professionally installed seamless jobs.
I like your advice, except this sentence. The OP is not going to know how hard to hit the gutter -- even I would have trouble without practice -- and may end up mangling it, or knocking it off its attachments. He can get a drill and an extension cord, or a cordless drill and start the hole in the middle, them maybe enlarge it with pliers, and then as you say below sith tin snips. Offset ones, or angle ones, whatever they are called, since he is in the middle of a hole. Wiz makes a nize brand.
I think a similar solution would be possible for the other gutters too, just a different method for making the hole.
I haven't seen the porch and it may be still settling, or maybe it has stopped. OP, if you don't know now, you should make some measurements or markings so that in 6 mos. or 2 years, you can tell if the porch is getting worse or not.
Got photos? Might help people get back to you with better suggestions.
tom @
Now for a reality stop on this run-away train. Poor ol' Rich is just looking for a little advice, and he's getting hammered. I agree, he may have reached out to the wrong gaggle group if his primary concern is frugality. For that, he should have sought counsel at misc.consumers.frugal-living. Being an affectionado of both, I suspect Rich's ultimate "fix" here is a cut-and-paste job of several recommendations made, plus the piste-de-resistance in frugality: move existing downspout from current location to other side of gutter. Talk about frugal! And you don't have to get permission from the town/ city nanny-boobs on how to properly dispose of your old downspout, though I have a good idea how to do that ...
Regarding termites, they don't care if the wood is dry or wet, they just care if it's wood. Carpenter ants, however, are an altogether different insect - they love damp wood. So it is important to keep the water away from the wood. Regarding ice damns, all the one's I've seen and read about come from poor/no insulation. But rot, for sure this is going on with Rich's gutter assuming it's attached to wood. If so, then mold, moss, and funky fungi are sure to follow, if not already firmly encamped. He's probably also brewing some mean mosquito mix - maybe some 3E and West Nile viruses. Also, depending on your house particulars, you may want to pay attention to the downspout outflow so it doesn't become house inflow.
So Rich, I agree you should take advantage of your windfall sloped roof-line. But, to fix this right and frugal, its probably best you hire a handyman to perform what Shane wrote because is doesn't sound like you are too handy, otherwise you would have already figured this out and done it. So be it, Rich, there's no shame in that, and it keeps guys like me with food on the table. I'm sure you do plenty of valuable things I can't do, either.
- Bob Stanley, Handy Man
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