Gutters & Downs

Steve Daniels · 2009-03-05T17:40:28+00:00

I'm going to have my house painted. The last guy who gave me aquote looked at my gutters and called them an anachronism.He said that in times when buildings were set on the groundwithout a proper foundation, gutters were necessary so that theground would not become saturated with water, allowing thebuilding to sink into it. However, with a proper foundation,this was not necessary and the gutters could be removed. One ofmy fascia boards needs to be replaced due to rot, and he saysit's because the gutters have been creating ice dams in thewinter, and that if they weren't there, that board would not haverotted.This is the first time I've ever heard a recommendation forremoving the gutters as unnecessary, and I'm a bit skeptical.Note that this is a well respected painter who has been doingthis work since 1962, so his opinion carries some weight.But still . . .So, I'm wondering. Can I take them off and leave them off?

Mar 05, 2009 21 Replies

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aemeijers 17 years ago

Unless the gutters are installed wrong, or never cleaned, that isn't a problem. Self draining by definition.

-- aem sends...

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ed_h 17 years ago

Yes, the need to clean them is one of the reasons some would like to eliminate them. With mature trees around, cleaning them once a month may not be enough. Mosquitoes can hatch in onlty a few days, I think.

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