When it comes to installing Gutters Size does Matter

Metal gutters comes in a variety of shapes such as rectangular, beveled, ogee, and semicircular. They also come in a number of sizes, from 2-1/2 inches to 6 inches in height and from 3-8 inches in width. Depending on the structure when it comes to installing gutters size does matter. This was evident on a commercial inspection I did recently. You cannot tell from the picture taken below on the left but these gutters are undersized, and the rain, ice and snow loads had begun to take its toll on them. These gutters are 5 inches in height and width. Because of the roof size large volumes of water enters into the gutters overwhelming them. As a result some areas were sagging (picture right) which prevents proper drainage.

Another problem with gutters that sag are leaks. If there is a walkway underneath, as is the case with this property, wet spots are created. If you look closely at the picture above on the right, where the gutter meets the elbow it sags and drips are occurring resulting in what you see at the bottom. The downspout is further down to the left of the elbow. The intent is that rain water will flow down around the elbow to the downspout, however it drains to the walkway below. When the temperature drops this wet area will freeze creating a slip hazard.

The downspout adapters created a problem as well, they too were undersized. If you look closely at the pictures you can see that the downspouts are too big for the black downspout adapters. The rain water is simply missing the dry well causing ground erosion and water seepage down the foundation wall. This resulted in mold growth on the interior wall and ceiling in the basement. The adapters for this installation should be 3x4 in size so that there is a tight fit to the downspout preventing water from spilling over onto the earth.

The owners actually read the report and acted on it. They had the gutters, downspouts, and adapters replaced with the proper size. In the next post we will take a look at the new and improved gutter system and see why size does matter.