SB: Re: wood gutters

["Robert W. Tom" <ArchiLogic@yahoo.ca>]

Ruth and Gutterheads;

The reason for making one's own gutters would be to create something 
that is an improvement over what is readily available.

Given that ready-made PVC gutters can be purchased for something 
like $4 per 10 foot length, there would be very little to recommend 
buying PVC pipe and then ripping it in half to make home-made gutters.
(The gutter itself is cheap like borscht. 
It's the connectors and hangers are the big co$t on DIY projects)
An instance where the ripping-pipe strategy would be  useful is when
casting concrete gutters and the half pipe would be used as a form.

If one is making a wooden gutter because one finds the appearance of 
ready-made metal or plastic gutters objectionable, then I would recommend 
buying rolls of  30 gauge Galvalume flat stock (ie 36" x 120") and 
making trough liners from it.  At the same time, I would also say that the 
wooden portions be designed so that they are well ventilated and can drain and 
dry out properly or else it will surely rot. 

If for some reason a metal liner is unsuitable, and an all-wood solution is desired, 
then the gutter should be designed using water-tight joinery and waterproof glue.
Even then, it is likely that the gutter will not remain watertight without annual 
maintenance (like a wooden boat). Tar is , well, tar ...and is best avoided.

But back to the first point... making something better than what 
is available at the store.

The problem with storebought gutters is that they are flimsy and often 
too narrow . 
( ie snow sliding off of a glass or metal roof will result in 
most storebought gutter systems being ripped off of the building and/or
... a healthy rainstorm will often result in water overshooting the narrow trough and/or
... ice-buildup in winter (after repeated freeze-thaw cycles) can result in burst 
& sagging troughs & downspouts) etc etc.

What I've done in many instances (with two storey buildings) is omit the gutter 
at the uppermost eaves and put the gutters at the first storey overhangs only. 
Since first storey windows are usually taller than second storey windows, the
first storey overhang extension will be greater than that of the upper roof 
eaves with the result that the first storey overhangs will catch the runoff from
the main roof. The main advantage of this is that the gutters are not exposed
to the massive snow slides coming off of the main roof .
(ie the intermediate roof is designed to bear the brunt of big snow slide/crashes
and the gutter just has to catch the snow-melt and rain)  Another is that it's 
closer to the ground for maintenance.

Another "improvement" which may be suitable for some areas (ie where a 
roof dumps onto an area next to a walkway) is to make the gutter into a roof 
canopy (ie feets wide instead of inches wide) creating a covered walkway 
or pergola and such-like.  This might be a useful strategy for SB houses which 
did not include suitably-wide roof overhangs initially, in which case I would think
"glass" for the gutter "liner" rather than sheet metal.

8/26/01 3:39:06 PM, ruth harding <rharding@sfu.ca> wrote:

>Has anyone on the list made their own wood gutters?  I am thinking of 
>making some out of a batch of 1/2 cedar I was given.  
[snip]

--- * ---
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
<ArchiLogic@yahoo.ca>

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