2008_03_10 Gutter system, metal roof, Charli's boards

The first picture is one of Kathy's favorites. On the day that Clay, KC, Clarli, and Jasper were here, Clay was taking some of the larger boards from the scrap pile and putting them in the basement in case I wanted them for something later. Most of them were either logs or larger boards that were 4"x 8" or so. Charli wanted to help so she made 2 trips. The ones she saved were the two little pieces of 2x4s on the right! How cute is that?



Also, you can see the gutter system that we bought from Dixie Homecrafters called Gutter Guardian. It allows water in, but it doesn't allow any leaves, pine needles, etc. First there is a row of tiny holes that are small enough to allow some small amount of water to go through them without being large enough to allow any leaves, debris, etc in. They also tend to slow the speed of the water down a little bit as it passes over the holes.

The picture below shows the gutter as well as the interior support system that is screwed into fascia board through the gutter. It supports the upper guard and locks it into the proper position in relation to the roof and gutter so that it stays where it needs to be to optimally allow water in and keep leaves out and also make sure that it doesn't get bent out of shape by wind or limbs that might hit it, etc. The supports are not as close together as the ones in the picture. This is just a sample section to show how they go together. I think the supports are just every 30 inches or something like that.



However, the main design feature is that the top part of the gutter completely covers the gutter itself, but allows water to still go into it while not allowing leaves, etc to do so.



It does this using the surface tension of the water to allow the water to flow down over the top of the gutter and then take a turn over the edge and back into the gutter since the water "sticks" to the surface of the metal top much like water "sticks" to the side of a water glass and run down the side and drip from the bottom if you pour it slowly rather than all at once. The water will stick to the gutter and follow its curve back underneath the top cover and then go into the gutter itself.


One thing that we'll have to remember is that it will take the roof a few weeks (usually over a couple of months of sun and after it has rained a few times) till it works as well as it will eventually. That is because of a coating of some kind on the surface of the metal, but once it has weathered a little bit the water will "stick" to it better and the roof will function more efficiently.

The gutters will be 6 inch gutters because with metal roofs the water comes down the roof at a faster rate than with shingle roofs and since the steepness of the roof is fairly steep. Steve (the guy doing the building) supported what they told us about the gutters needing to be 6 inch gutters with metal roofs. He said that nothing smaller would work.


The gutters haven't been installed yet since we're waiting till the final grading is done on the property so that the downspouts won't have to be moved later when the dirt is being moved around the house.


The gutters are designed so that leaves and debris can't get in, but water can. The example is shown on a regular shingle roof. Ours will be screwed to the fascia board in a different way since they can't go up underneath the metal roof which is screwed down.

The gutters are also designed so that the downspouts do NOT have to stick up inside the gutters. That is so that there won't be a portion of the downspout sticking up inside the gutter to create a lip or little wall that water inside has to build up around before it will go down the downspout. They believe that any amount of downspout sticking up can result in water remaining in the gutter and that allows mosquitoes to breed or any debris that might get in (pollen, dust, etc) to not get washed down the next time it rains.

They have a patented way to attach the downspout to the gutter that allows them to have nothing sticking up into the gutter at all. See below:

The above part is attached to the gutter with the left side in the above picture fastened to the gutter. The hole in the gutter that is cut above where the downspout is to be attached therefore has nothing sticking up into it. It simply empties into the large end of the above connecting piece and then goes down through the smaller end of the above connecting piece into the downspout.

Then there is one shot of the new metal roof.

The gutter company is going to install gutters on every place where the roof would otherwise dump water onto the deck or ground. Although the decks or balconies and sides of the house will, of course, get wet when it rains, the volume of water that would otherwise hit the deck or ground and splash back onto the logs would both tend to wash away the deck stain faster than desired and cause the logs to stay wetter and be more prone to mildew, mold, etc.

The gutters are warranted for life on materials and workmanship and for 20 years on the paint itself. The guarantee is also transferrable when we sell the house. They also guarantee that if the gutters ever clog for any reason they will come and clean them out for free. They are not cheap, however! That's the only disadvantage I can find in them so far. :-)