We got a lot of rain tonight! I went outside to check the rain coming off the roof. Rain came barreling off the roof down a valley, leapt over the 90 degree angle in the gutter and landed on the front step. At first I thought it might be that leaves had clogged the gutter even though I cleaned it out last week. I got out my step stool and cleared any newly deposited leaves. A couple of hours later, during another burst of rain, the same thing happened. After the rainburst, I checked the gutters – but there weren’t any leaves. So, that’s not the problem.
I read a number of posts on gutters or not (very interesting – I hadn’t realized!) Either way (or I guess you could say I got both ways) I can’t figure out what the solution might be. Was there just too much rain traveling too fast to drop into the gutter?
I’ve attached a photo of the house. It’s hard to see that the front of the house sticks out three feet from the front door. So, the roofline makes a 90 degree angle at the front door.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Michaelene
Replies
The speed and volume of water shoots over the top of the gutter. You can fabricate a blockade on that inside corner of gutter that will stand taller than the top of the gutter. I've used scrap gutter to cut and bend about a 3inch tall pc that I fasten to the top bent edge of the gutter. You'll need to go about 6-8 inches each way out of the corner.
They may sell this diverter where gutter parts are sold, then all you'd have to do is pop rivet or zip screw it on.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
You need some more downspout. It seems that the water does not flow fast enough to get to the downspout. In your pic I see only one downspout in the front, try to get at least two more.
Edited 10/5/2005 9:48 am ET by MRinger
You need what are called elephant ears. They are what post #2 describes... an added piece that sticks up from the edge of the gutter at the inside corner right below the valley. Any sheet metal, roofing, or gutter person should be able to do them.
Our house has 4 big valleys and the water wants to do the same thing on all of them.
Why did you say it's the inside corner when the corner is actually on the outside?
One of those oxymoron thing?
Well, it's the outside of the gutter assembly... the part visible from the yard as opposed to the part nailed to the fascia... but it's the inside face of that part... that's where you attach the elephant ear.
Thanks for the clarification! I didn't understand that correctly before.
Michaelene
Calvin's suggestion of a barrier is a good one provided that you don't get much ice or snow. I've got the same problem, but our with snowy climate, and our steel roof, the barrier would get ripped off within the first few weeks of Winter.
Scott.
Are you in the Minneapolis area by chance? I'm guessing that by the Northstar MLS stamp in the lower corner of your photo, plus it looks like a Twin Cities style of house.
If so, we did get a LOT of rain last night - anywhere from 4 to 10 inches according to the weather guy on TV - so I don't know if you need to worry about it too much, as long as the gutters don't overflow during normal storms. It's pretty rare for us to have storms like that around here...the last rainstorm that was that intense was what, fifteen years ago?
Re: "rain leaping over the gutter"
A sure sign you have really really ugly gutters. Rain is not usually very picky. Those must be hideously ugly gutters you have there.
Yes, you're right - I'm in Richfield MN. Even though the rain was unusually heavy yesterday, we've had rain / gutter problems since moving into the house last year. I'm trying to make sure I understand the problem before figuring out what to do. Yesterday's timing worked out great in that I could run around the outside of the house in the rain and see where water was running, pouring, dripping, streaming, puddling and, yes, even leaping. We had it all!
I thought the "elephant ears" barrier on the inside (between the roof and the gutter - right?) sounded good - until I got to the comment about snow.
Water was pouring down the downspout - so I knew the downspout wasn't blocked. There is one downpout on each side of the house. I didn't think about the downspout being too small and therefore, the gutter being too full of water to catch it all. I will look at that the next time. I wonder if it will rain tonight...
Michaelene
'I thought the "elephant ears" barrier on the inside (between the roof and the gutter - right?) sounded good - until I got to the comment about snow'
Could you not use something semi-rigid - plastic, neoprene,etc taht would deflect under snow but not 'average' rainwater?All the best...
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
"I thought the "elephant ears" barrier on the inside (between the roof and the gutter - right?) sounded good ..."
Just to make sure everything is clear - the "elephant ears" are installed on the side of the gutter that's AWAY from the house. That helps keep the valley water from overshooting the gutter.
I'm too smart to be modest
The Twin Cities area has had some real gully washers in the past 48 hours. Frankly, if the overflow isn't causing any problems (washing out plantings, getting into a basement window well, etc), I wouldn't worry about it. The gutters can probably handle "normal" rainfall with no difficulty.
Here's my solution to the problem. These are custom copper gutters, but this can be done with standard aluminum. See the first picture.
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=60932.146
Birth, school, work, death.....................
I was thinking about this thread when I took that pic, forgot to post it here. Thanks for catching that. Really nice work on your corners!!! Considedering all your interupptions. You must be soldering at 300 AM. Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
I meant to take a picture of inside miters on my house for this thread, but 3AM ain't the time to do it. I was tired and went to sleep about 8:30 last night, so I was done snoozing about 3. Took a little nap from about 5-7.Birth, school, work, death.....................