Sick of Gutters!!

[rwe2156]

I'm looking for an alternative to gutters. I'm thinking about some type of mesh that extends beyond the roof and simply disperses the rain.

You think expansion mesh for cement will work?

Metal roof.

[fredhargis]

I do not. My experience with this was in using Rainhandlers, I put a short section (4') on my asphalt shingle roof (this was over 20 years ago) to test out. This is a Louvre designed to disperse the runoff over a 4' area in the yard. The dispersion was less than maybe a 6-8", and in lighter rains it was just a drip/runoff. Worse, robins found this to be a nice flat surface to build nests on. So even thought they would eventually get forced out by rainfall, I still had a muddy nest to clean off the darn things. I left it up for 2 years, before I tore it down and had the whole house re-guttered. I think your mesh idea would suck just as much as the Rainhandlers. Just my opinion.

[Cooler]

I have a generous (30") eave around my house and in one respect gutters are not required.  The overhang protects the windows.

But then I would have to arrange for drainage to move the water away from the house and that would be costly and would likely require a moat of sorts about 2 - 3 feet wide encircling the house to trap and route the water away. 

The best solution I have is to have my gardener clean the gutters each year.  It cost me $50.00 the last time.  Once you find someone to clean the gutters for you, they are not a problem at all.

As an aside the street name and number for my house is a virtual doppelganger for one across town.  I came home and found I had brand new gutters.  I did not order gutters and so I drove across town to the doppelganger address (my street is Edge Hill, and the other is Edgehill).  They had new gutters too.

I asked, "Do you know anything about my new gutters?"

And they replied, "The salesman came to visit and asked, 'Where is our crew?' and then he panicked and drove to your house.  They had already ripped off the old gutters so they had no option but to replace them.'"

So I got free gutters.  The old ones did not leak but were galvanized steel and you could lean a ladder against them.  You cannot do that with aluminum gutters.

[MT Woodworker]

Had gutters that were part of the roof, a valley so to speak below the first course of roofing, tar paper and hot tar coated
A bit of a pitch built in and then down spouts, and the rest for run off to go away from the house

[rwe2156]

I'm thinking seriously of just taking them off.

[Cooler]

During a bad rainstorm my parents' gutter pulled away from the roof.  I was visiting at the time and I spent an hour mopping the basement until I got the idea of diverting the water with a piece of plywood leaned against the house.

If the drainage is satisfactory you can  rip off the gutters.  But if it is not, you may find yourself mopping up the leaky basement.  And if you are on a slab, you might find yourself mopping up the first floor. 

You can probably test for this with a garden hose.  I would hate to rip off the gutters only to find that I had to pay to put new ones in.

Why are you so upset with the gutters?

[Splinter Puller]

No gutters mean soil erosion and splashing on the house at the base. The only houses I've seen where no gutters work well is where there is a deep overhang (4 feet or so) and the landscaping is large rocks to break up the sheeting water. The base of these houses are usually masonry and can handle the splash.

Gutters serve an important purpose. There are people who will clean your gutters if your sick of it.

[Cooler]

I was sick of my gutters until I got someone to clean them for me.  Now my gutters are my friends.

I was also sick of mowing my lawn and cleaning my house.  Now I am not.  All problems are solvable.

[Snipe Hunter]

I'm thinking seriously of just taking them off.

The 3 biggest reasons I see for water in basements and water/mold in walls are:
#1 Poor Grading
#2 Clogged Gutters
#3 No downspout extensions

The #1 reason for water inside walls, lower wood rot etc is no gutters.

They're there for a reason.

I also see a lot of these same problems because gutter-guards can't allow enough water into the gutters in heavy rains. They're great for keeping debris out of the gutters but they're also pretty good at keeping rain runoff out of them.

IMHO, just keep them clean.

We're in a heavily wooded area an have gutter guards. We're remodeling with a new roof and will be replacing the standard gutters with larger ones, no gutter guards.

[EightFingers]

So I wonder, when we go to England we see most of the really old houses don’t have gutters?