NO Gutter on House...?

[gbrasseur]

Hi all,

I looked at a five year old house today that was built with NO gutters. Strangly enough, none of the other houses in the neighborhood had gutters either. It is in a mountain area here in Colorado. My first thought was they had not installed them due to high snow that may rip them off. (but then thought "no"). I am going to suggest gutters be installed.


Any thoughts as to WHY there would be no gutters to begin with??

And [No] there were not 5 foot eves either.

[tdietrich1]

Originally Posted by gbrasseur

Hi all,

I looked at a five year old house today that was built with NO gutters. Strangly enough, none of the other houses in the neighborhood had gutters either. It is in a mountain area here in Colorado. My first thought was they had not installed them due to high snow that may rip them off. (but then thought "no"). I am going to suggest gutters be installed.


Any thoughts as to WHY there would be no gutters to begin with??

And [No] there were not 5 foot eves either.

Some local areas have their own local rules, like deed restrictions set by the big home builders. No Cloth lines, no children play-sets visible from the street, etc. Might want to ask the home owners, and see their deed.

Only say this, because I found out a friend had in his deed "no pets that could constitute being farm animals". Thought it was weird considering we are in "Pennsytucky".

later,

tom

[Albert J. Chavez, CHI]

Because of the cold winters water and show will freeze on the gutters and will cause to back up under the overhang.

[Patrick Bolliger]

I had read a post or an article (can remember) that had to do with homes in Colorado and gutters. Some areas use them other area roofers say it just promotes Ice dams..

Ice dams....hmmm I was told it was due to poor roof ventilation and incorrect attic insulation levels.

I think it would be interesting to check with the local building jurisdiction on that.

Appearance (realtors?)
Functionality (roofer, architects, engineers, inspectors)

I travel most every winter to Ski in Colorado (Keystone, Copper, Vail, etc..)
So I look at building/condos/ homes all the time when there...
Snow fall in the upper elevations has building roofs PACKED with snow and icicles hanging from eaves....
Gutters.... It seems to me that either way your going to have problems.

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

Greg, I'm a couple hours North of you in Boulder county.
I find that this sort of thing has to do with the quality of the neighborhood...
If the lots are selling for not a lot of money and the kinds of homes built there are not real high-end, they tend to skimp in places during construction. Not installing gutters is one of the ways they save money. Basically it's a locally acccepted building standard.

[kweiss]

Around here, full gutters are the exception not the rule for the majority of the cities I work in. I would not find it at all unusual to see none, especially on lower end homes, to just over the entry points, on average homes.

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

Do you recommend them in your report if the home doesn't have them, Kevin?

[ccarrington]

I see the same thing in Abilene… most homes under 150K have no gutters, and only about 50% of older home have them. I look very carefully at several issues involving each home… like areas of negative slope in lot grading, and how wide the eve actually is. Basically, how is the home performing to date without them? You really want to get the water away from the home as far as you can, but there are homes that do just fine with out gutters. However understand that a basement in most parts of Texas just don’t exist. Here you get slab on grade mostly, and pier and beam if the home was early 50’s or older. For this reason water intrusion at the foundation is more forgiving than areas with basements and or higher water tables. Anyway, my contractor friend in Montana never puts gutters on homes in snow/ice prone areas, and uses mostly steel roofs. He says that gutters fall off when the are full of ice and they weigh like 2000 pounds… just not worth it… Do you know how pissed off momma gets when a 2000 pound aluminum lined ice block falls on her car?

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

I see a few damaged gutters but not that many. The ones I do see are the product of inadequate attic ventilation or poor roof design (often see damage below valleys that serve large areas).

Looked at a home not long ago in the mountains that had great drainage around the perimeter and no gutters... and a belly full of water. So I play it safe and call them "advisable" and give an explanation but don't use language strong enough for the buyer to use it as ammunition/a point of insistance; a point that could hang up the transaction.

[Ralph Smith]

If you have a ice dam or build-up concern or problem with gutters or in general, they have a heated cable that works nicely. Snow pans or slides equipped with the cable, through the gutter and in the downspout.

[kweiss]

I take the same approach as Cortland. If it seems to be performing okay without them and has proper grading, I do not recommend them.