Roof Gutters

[Jerry Bruette]

Just did a search about gutters and found a wealth of knowledge on gutter toppers but nothing about gutter and downspout size.

What do the knowledge banks here have to say about gutter and downspout sizing?

Ranch style house with 4/12 pitch roof, if it matters.

[Roger Feeley]

When we built our house we had gutter covers put in and wound up having them removed. In a heavy rain, the cover was more of a ramp. Water just went right across the screen.

if I had it all to do over again, I would put in FlipClean.
https://flipcleanguttersystems.com/
My neighbor has these and cleans his gutters two or three time each season. Only takes him a few minutes.

[Tom M King]

The Classic gutters I put on this house have been the easiest to clean that I've ever dealt with. They're 6", with 4" round downspouts. They leave lines of fairly extruded leaves out the ends of the spouts, and the house gets lots of leaves from Sweet Gums, Bald Cypress, and Crepe Myrtles.

I go up every late Fall to clean them, but there has never been more than a couple of handfuls at the corners of the hips.

Their tops are completely unobstructed by mounts. The lay in cast brackets.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Only if I lived in the desert would I install 4" gutters. Five inch are the standard around here. Of all the gutters I have dealt with over the last forty years in building trades, the "Leaf Guards" are the best. Not cheap by any means, but worth the price if you don't like cleaning gutters.

[Jim Matthews]

Had a commercial 8" gutter installed on our low pitch "Salt box" second story. All the other gutters are stock 6" wide.

Same size downspouts, all around.

As with previous posters, leaf guards tried and removed. The stainless mesh wire cover would catch pine needles and prevent water drainage.

I now pay to have them cleared, twice a year.

[Shawn Siegrist]

5” or 6” k style gutter, 2x3 or 3x4 drop (down spout), leaf relief gutter guards. You’re probably safe to use a 5” gutter with a 2x3 drop, but I’d go 6” with a 3x4 drop.

[Bill Bukovec]

I replaced our 4" gutters with 6". The 6 " does a good job flushing pine needles through the downspout. I like to attach the gutters to the facia using the brackets that hook to the front of the gutter, then screws to the end of the rafter.

A trim router and template is handy for making the hole for the downspout adapter.

[Jerry Bruette]

So it sounds like 6" gutters would be the ticket since I have white and red pine trees in my yard.

Thanks for the advice.

[Tom M King]

The size of the downspouts seems to matter too. Those Classic Gutters are many times more expensive than the regular ones, but I've never seen 4" round downspouts anywhere else. All the parts come in boxes strong enough to walk on, with foam sheets separating the parts to prevent scratching. I forget how much the parts for that house cost, but including shipping, it was a few thousand dollars. Those long, heavy boxes had to be delivered by a semi-truck.

On my house, we have regular gutters, but I didn't use downspouts, and the ends are open. Wide overhangs, and large rocks for the water to land on. They are self flushing.

[Jim Becker]

There clearly are some kind of calculations that get done for gutter size as there are areas on our home that have 5" and a few that have 6". My shop, with it's 12/12 pitch has 6" across about 46' and 17' of roof rise above it on each side. The front porch roof on the addition is 6" and collects both from it's own surface but also receives via downspouts from the house structure up above.

Bigger is probably better than too small, but appearance can also come into play, so gutter design matters on some structures. As to downspouts...it's just like our dust collection systems: the downspouts need to be sized to be able to reasonably handle the volume of water that will be collected off the roof surface in at some designated rainfall level. I have no idea what that metric is, however. The 6" gutter sections on our home and on my shop are certainly larger than those on the 5" gutter.

[Michael Weber]

That flip clean thing is pretty interesting. I see they don’t connect to the downspout so they can flip but curious about how they handle inside and outside corners. Can’t figure that one out and they show no hint on the videos or pictures.

[Bruce Wrenn]

The "Leaf Guards" I referenced are rolled as a one piece gutter, not something added to top of existing gutter. Concealed fasting system. "Gutter Helmets," a add on product, also work well.

[Brian Elfert]

Only if I lived in the desert would I install 4" gutters. Five inch are the standard around here. Of all the gutters I have dealt with over the last forty years in building trades, the "Leaf Guards" are the best. Not cheap by any means, but worth the price if you don't like cleaning gutters.

I assume you mean Leafguard gutters. The only real issue with Leafguard is the cost. I have them, but they cost me $34 per foot installed! Some say that a really heavy rain will not go into the gutter, but I haven't paid enough attention to notice if that is happening.

[Mel Fulks]

The flip stuff, was invented in Richmond Va area as a side line for a local family. I think the first ones were for their own
use. They didn't advertise and made the flip stuff just for people who had seen them ;often by seeing them flipped as they drove by a house ,and then stopped and asked home owner "where do you buy those?" Now I'm seeing advertising.
Perhaps either through increased ambition or sale of company. Again, ...I'm guessing about their new high profile.
But certainly seeing a lot of ads.

[Roger Feeley]

The flip stuff, was invented in Richmond Va area as a side line for a local family. I think the first ones were for their own
use. They didn't advertise and made the flip stuff just for people who had seen them ;often by seeing them flipped as they drove by a house ,and then stopped and asked home owner "where do you buy those?" Now I'm seeing advertising.
Perhaps either through increased ambition or sale of company. Again, ...I'm guessing about their new high profile.
But certainly seeing a lot of ads.

I’m in northern VA and my neighbor told me pretty much the same story. He says it’s a great product but the marketing isn’t so great. My neighbor wants to buy the company. He’s a very successful real estate agent. I would imagine that he would do a better job of marketing.

[Tom Bender]

Most important is where the water will go after it leaves the roof. In Mass you probably are not trying to use the water as you might in Tucson and you probably have a basement to keep dry. Consider this before sizing your gutters. If you want to drain a big area all to one point it may require different gutters.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Why Gutters? Go gutterless. All is required is hardscape below the roof line, lined sloping trench, drainage ABS, covered with landscape fabric and pea gravel, all leading to a DIY cistern, a buried perforated 50g tank filled with gravel. Cheaper, zero maintenance.

Just a thought.

[Jim Matthews]

Why Gutters? Go gutterless. All is required is hardscape below the roof line, lined sloping trench, drainage ABS, covered with landscape fabric and pea gravel, all leading to a DIY cistern, a buried perforated 50g tank filled with gravel. Cheaper, zero maintenance.

Just a thought.

Without a gutter on my Saltbox overhang, the rain dropped directly onto my bulkhead and basement windows.

Basement flooding is expensive.

[Thomas McCurnin]

My post assumes the overhang is sufficient to direct the water out of harms way, Some houses have very short, 6-12" overhangs. Others like mine have 3' overhangs.

[Jerry Bruette]

My post assumes the overhang is sufficient to direct the water out of harms way, Some houses have very short, 6-12" overhangs. Others like mine have 3' overhangs.

You don't have to worry about ice on your front steps and sidewalk making them unsafe.

[John K Jordan]

Just did a search about gutters and found a wealth of knowledge on gutter toppers but nothing about gutter and downspout size.
What do the knowledge banks here have to say about gutter and downspout sizing?
.

You can ask Sir Google go guide you to a gutter sizing calculator. The one I used when building my shop took into consideration my location, roof size, roof pitch, and such.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

You don't have to worry about ice on your front steps and sidewalk making them unsafe.

Some structures in some settings can function well without gutters. In the instance of doorways and walkways, deflectors can be used to re-direct the water to the side so there's no safety issue.

[Mel Fulks]

Some structures in some settings can function well without gutters. In the instance of doorways and walkways, deflectors can be used to re-direct the water to the side so there's no safety issue.

Yes, And an impluvium can be a big improvium.
Saving money on water and roofing

[Tom Bender]

Why Gutters? Go gutterless. All is required is hardscape below the roof line, lined sloping trench, drainage ABS, covered with landscape fabric and pea gravel, all leading to a DIY cistern, a buried perforated 50g tank filled with gravel. Cheaper, zero maintenance.

Just a thought.

Ummm,,,,how much do you think gutters cost? And with grass and weeds moving into the hardscape, maintenance might not be zero. And anyway, hardscape might not be everyone's cup of tea.

[Brian Elfert]

Ummm,,,,how much do you think gutters cost? And with grass and weeds moving into the hardscape, maintenance might not be zero. And anyway, hardscape might not be everyone's cup of tea.

That is what I was thinking. Plain seamless gutters don't cost all that much. I don't think the cost difference between hardscaping with the pipe, trenching, dry well, and all would be much, if anything.

[Brian Elfert]

My house has 24" eaves. However, someone built a bay all the way to the edge of the eaves. I replaced the siding six years ago and I have mold growing in a spot on the siding on the bay. I really need gutters to help keep water off the bay. None of my other siding has mold on it.

Rocks don't stay weed free for long around where I live. Dirt washes into the rocks and weeds grow in the dirt. This happens even with landscape fabric as the dirt accumulates on top of the fabric. Roundup will kill the weeds, but then I have brown weeds instead of green weeds.

[Jim Becker]

On the weed tangent, pre-emergent products that discourage or prevent germination have to be part of the maintenance plan. That will reduce the "brown weeds" from using weed killing treatments like RoundUp as well as environmentally safer mixtures made from vinegar, epsom salt and Dawn soap.

[rick sizemore]

Yes, there are various Gutter/Downspout Capacity Tables on Google.
Total flow for gutters is influenced by gutter cross-sectional shape, volume, pitch and the cross-sectional area of the downspout.
Typical capacity for 6" K style gutter w/ a 3x4 inch downspout is approx 95 GPM...with a 4x4 downspout capacity is 125 GPM.
Another consideration is how far to place the gutter below the extended plane of the roof...most recommendations are to have the top of the gutter no closer than 1-2" below the roof plan (especially important in areas prone to have sliding snow or ice).

To understand your needs, look at historical rainfall peaks, apply to horizontal area of the roof feeding a particular section of guttering.
Good luck.

[John Terefenko]

Have a ranch also and just last year had the exterior redone with new roof, gutters, siding and stone front. Had 6" gutters with 4" downspouts and they work great. What I did different and really never seen it or just have not looked for it but had white gutters and grey leaders because the house body is grey and trim is white. The leaders blend in nicely and absolutely love the look. The thing about gutter guards I would never ever put them on because I have seen a few different brands used and seen the results when the gutters get full of ice. The icicles that form off those things are dangerous. Seen people actually have the gutters pulled down and interior of homes damaged. I live on the east coast in NJ.

[Shawn Siegrist]

5” K style gutter with 2”x3” downspouts and leaf relief gutter guards would capture the water from your roof. Now if it was my house I’d go with the 6” K style gutter and a 3”x4” downspout, with the leaf relief gutter guard.

[Charlie Velasquez]

Without a gutter on my Saltbox overhang, the rain dropped directly onto my bulkhead and basement windows.

Basement flooding is expensive.

One story ranch, 2’ overhang, fiberboard lap siding, basement bulkhead entrance. Four very large maples and an oak within 30 feet of the roof. When we purchased the house the gutters had those vinyl type gutter screens.
Still had to clean the gutters, downspouts still occasionally clogged, still had an occasional water problem in the basement, lower courses of siding and corner joints had water damage.

Vinyl siding,wrapped all the windows, new roof, weatherstripping on bulkhead doors.

Regrade the 6’ adjacent to the foundation wall.
Covered with 2 layers of 8 mil plastic.
French drain integrated at the bottom of the 6’ slope
Covered with 2” decorative river rock

No gutters.

-The bulkhead was watertight, no issues.
-The vinyl siding was not affected by any additional water contact
-Additional ice on our steps was not an issue. The original gutters only extended about 5 inches from the roof, so our steps were getting wet anyway. Whether they were hit with a gallon of cold water a minute or a gallon an hour, the amount of water staying on the steps was the same.
-No more water issues in the basement, ever. That included a storm system in ’96? that dumped 14” of rain in three days.
All fauna (my wife’s hobby) was in large decorative pots and planters so as to not compromise the visqueen (those pots are not inexpensive by the way, but neither were some of my tools, so that was a wash). And, it allowed her to rearrange her plant layout as if she was rearranging the furniture (not sure if that was a plus or a minus... some of those were heavy).
-Every fall it would be covered in leaves which would have decomposed to form dirt, but the 2” rock was heavy enough to sustain the force of a corded leaf blower and all the leaves were blown off periodically. After maybe 10 years we noticed a couple of dandelions. As Jim mentioned a couple of squirts of weed killer, later years a pre-emergent as part of the regular lawn maintenance, solved that.

After about 20 years I had need to trench along a section to run conduit. The top layer of plastic was brittle, the bottom was in pristine condition.

The only negative was walking through a sheet of rain instead of a dribble when exiting the house from the front door. But with an attached garage that was rare. An umbrella solved that problem.

It worked effectively for over twenty years. When we decided to move our realtor told us it didn’t matter how effective the system was, no house in Iowa without gutters would sell. We had seamless gutters installed the first week in October, just as the leaves were dropping. I was cleaning out the gutters a couple of weeks later.

[Bill Dufour]

On my patio roof I installed a gutter but only capped one end. It slopes to the other end and makes a waterfall onto stepping stones. Never clogs.
Bill D

[Tobias Jones]

I can agree with John there. I also had a 6 gutter and 4 downspouts and they work great

[Tobias Jones]

But i would be happy to learn more