A client asked me to repair some facia board that was discovered rotten when it had his gutters removed. He and his wife are considering going “gutter-less.” Here in the southeast, that is unusual becuase we get a lot of rain in the late fall, winter and early spring and most people want the water well away from the foundation.
He and his wife are from the northern U.S., and he mentioned a “dutch gutter,”i.e., apparently some type of dam across the roof just above the front door entry. I assume that the purpose is to channel rain water running down the roof away from the area directly over the door entry.
Does this ring a bell with anyone?
ChrisA
Replies
Yup. Basically a length of 90 degree flashing woven into the shingles. Usually sits about a foot away from the roof edge, diverts the majority of water away from the door and to the sides. Downsides - they rust out eventually (and quicker than your galv valleys etc), they're not perfect at diverting water. In a heavy rain, if your shingles aren't stuck down good you might be replacing your soffits too, and if you get snow, they're a wonderful place for the snow and ice to come in the winter and sit and dam up. I saw them all over 'Bama when I was stationed there. They might have an application where it stays warm year round. We got freezing rain at the moment, I don't think it'd fly too long here.
Thanks, that makes total sense.
ChrisA
>> ... they rust out eventually (and quicker than your galv valleys etc) ...
Copper or stainless steel would last longer than most shingles.
I don't know about the "dutch" part, but on the Connecticut shoreline where I grew up, most older gutterless cottages had a strip of trim just sitting on the roof over the door. Nailed and caulked on top of the shingles, on an angle about a foot or two up from the eaves, they diverted runoff to the side of the entryway. Fancy ones were v-shaped to divert to both sides. Normally the piece of wood lasted about as long as the cheap asphalt shingles they were sitting on. Fiberglass shingles last longer now, but so would PT wood.
Somewhere in my past I had seen strips of wood used as you describe. I always hate nailing through the shingles, even with caulk and roofing cement, but its an easy solution. Thanks. ChrisA