The way the house is designed creates very little run-off from the roof on the outside of the east and west gables and so we have not needed gutters there. However, that means the inside of those east and west gables sends water onto the center roof where it is split to the north over the north porch and to the south over the south porch. Gutters are definitely needed on the porches to minimize the damage from excessive water on the steps of the north side and the deck of the south.
The previous owner did not put gutters on either location and that was especially problematic on the north porch because the roof did not extend beyond the porch deck and they covered the fascia board with metal (which was wrapped around the bottom of the board). They added a wooden barrier around the base of the porch with water loving plants in front of it. Unfortunately, those efforts were mediocre at best because the moisture (condensation and rain) coming off the roof followed the metal fascia back and dripped down onto the railing and the decking and continued to travel to the ground via the wood barrier. All the while creating a safe haven for rot.
And, on the south porch, the deck extends another eight (8) feet beyond the roof line so, I suppose, they didn't think it worthwhile to put a gutter along the roof since the rest of the deck is out in the rain. Instead, they painted the deck -- not stained or treated -- painted it the same dark green as the roof. As you can imagine, this made for a VERY hot place to walk and also created a heat sink.
The first thing we did (in 2008) was install a gutter along the roofline of the south porch.
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Unfortunately, we could only afford to do it ourselves using segmented guttering you buy at the home improvement store. Segments require connectors and make it difficult to get the pitch correct for smooth flow to the down spout.
Even though the segments connectors were silicone caulked, they leaked most of the time. Heavy Sigh.
The decking was replaced (that is different project and page found in the archived section of the General Store). |
We knew we had to do a major overhaul of the north porch so while I did price guttering for the north porch, we basically ignored the issue until we could do something about the whole thing (bad design and execution). You can see the North Porch Replacement Project here (it was done in 2017).
I had hoped to have enough funds to do the gutters when we did the rest of the siding, etc. but alas it was not to be. So we had to wait once again.
Finally, in 2020, we had to do general exterior maintenance (that is also another project and page) and THIS TIME I made sure the funds were allocated for the gutters. Nothing like 12 years of anticipation.
In order to be sure the gutters would match the trim of the house, I had to decide on the gutter installation company BEFORE I gave the trim color choice to our painters. BUT, the painters had to finish painting the house/trim before I could schedule the gutter company to come out. I knew we needed more contrast in the trim color than we currently had, so using my Sherwin Williams paint swatch book, the gutter estimator (Ashley) and I compared what they offered to what colors Sherwin Williams offers and VIOLA! the perfect match was "Turkish Coffee".
I had a good vibe from Ashley and she was able to answer all my questions and so after receiving their estimate for the job and clarifying a few things, we hired Water-A-Way Gutters LLC to do the job. They were OKAY with a general date of early October (since we weren't sure exactly when the painters would be available) and then, when the painters ended up being able to fit us in a month early, were able to schedule us for the 3rd week of September. Nice.
This gave me plenty of time to get the decorative rain barrels for the north side of the house. (More on those later.)
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The crew arrived on time on the designated day.
They carefully backed the truck and big trailer up our drive and had no trouble.
I showed them the electric outlet and they were OFF!
First they moved stuff out of the way from the trailer (the boxes of not-my-color-gutter-stuff) and counted out how many ends, connectors and straps they would need.
These they painted so they would be dry in time.
(I need to get a can of that spray paint for my touch ups on the trim, LOL.) |
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Next they measured.... the south porch is really simple. |
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The north porch measurements are bit more complicated. But they were not phased by all the issues I see with it.
We established at this point where the downspouts would come down and how they would need to pour into the openings of the rain barrels. |
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Once they had measurements, they formed the gutter pieces and punched the holes for the downspouts in the appropriate places.
I love that tripod that keeps the gutter going out flat for such a long distance. |
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Those tool belts held everything they needed. The efficiency of this crew was amazing. I was VERY impressed.
Here one of the guys is silicone caulking the inside of the end cap of the first gutter and the downspout connector. All the connectors, ends, etc. were silicone sealed. |
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Then they put the screw adjuster things in place (I didn't ask what their official name is.) ready to be leveled/pitched once the gutter was in place. |
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Big, long, single piece of gutter heading for the south porch. Yippee! |
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I was amazed at how quickly they got the gutter in place and attached. They showed me their tool which includes levels for screwing in the aduster screw things.
I love when there is a right tool for the job. |
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And here is the gutter on the south porch just waiting for it's downspout (at the other end). |
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These two (2) shots are out of sequence, because (above) this member of the crew did this part while the other two guys worked on the last bit of the north porch and cleaned up.
After they finished on the north, it was back to the south to put the flashing over the exposed wood beam for the shed roof of the south porch. I had specifically requested this during the estimate visit. (The installers took this pic since I don't like ladders.) |
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And, on to the north porch...
They cut the center piece first and put angles on either end. Then then got it situated and leveled. |
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Notice the 2nd guy being the other leg of the ladder! The strength that takes and the trust of both... that is teamwork.
I was mesmerized by the process. The adjusting and fixing of each length of gutter... |
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Then the cutting of the angles to be close enough that the connector would fill the gap.
And they didn't use gloves! They must have tremendous callouses after working with that sharp aluminum. |
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Here is one of the connectors being shaped for the corner (which is not a regular angle, believe you me).
Lots of trimming and bending goes into this process. |
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Once it is bent and fitted, it is screwed to the gutter pieces and silicone caulked. |
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Everything is fitted and screwed together. |
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Once all the gutters were up and solidly in place the downspouts were added.
I had made a big deal about how nothing on that porch was a consistent measurement. So when the "S" bend fit perfectly, you could have knocked me over with a feather. The guys laughed at my expression. It was funny. |
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And finally, every surface was painted the same color as the gutter... every screw head, every cut edge. |
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Another close up after the paint (on the other side). |
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The downspouts run along the post and on top of the "hand rail".
If you read my rants about the construction of the new porch, you will know that those rails wobbled too much.
With the downspouts attached with strapping, the rails hardly move at all!
Good thing those hand rails aren't really needed - they are more decorative. |
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The bends on the downspout connectors are so easily manipulated (when you know what you are doing, of course). It was amazing to watch him shift those connectors so that they are directly over the openings of the rain barrels.
He was going to add an extension so it touched the barrel, but I asked him not to because we have to remove them for the winter and then level them in the spring. We will find a flexible tube to do that last bit of guidance for each barrel.
You can also see the other guy picking up all the bits of aluminum - very thorough. Can't say enough good things about this crew! |
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| And here are the AFTER pictures! Above and at right are the south porch all done. We have plans to add a rank of rain barrels along the side by the down spout, but we will deal with that at a later date. |
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Close ups of the north porch gutters. This is the east side. |
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Close up of the center of the north gutter. I just loved all the angles in this shot. It is interesting to compare what appears to be color differences when it is just sun shining on some areas and shade on others. |
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The west side of the north gutter was hard to capture with the sun beyond it. |
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Above are the two rain barrels individually: the East one is on the left and the West one is on the right. Neither has been fitted with their spigot or hose overflow because they both will be emptied and go into the garage for the winter. I was amazed at how close they match the trim/gutter color. Once again, the color difference in the pictures is just that the east one is in the sun, while the west one is in full shade. They are actually identical to each other.
I bought those rain barrels from Gardeners' Supply. They hold up to 75 gallons of water each. They are round, so I decided to use the capstones to broaden the bottom step and (happily) 2 stacked capstones is the same height as the step. I was pleased at the way the capstone "step" leaves room to work the hose connector. Raised this way will also help flow out of both the spigot (hole part way up) and the hose. |
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And there you have the finished porch (except for staining the floor -- click here to see that). The gutters really do class it up AND there hasn't been a drop of condensation on the steps since it's been in place.
Shameless plug time...
I highly recommend this company!
UPDATE (September 26, 2020)
There wasn't any rain in the last week and only a couple days of heavy condensation and we didn't think to test the gutters for leaks. I did go out each morning to see if there were any drips and it wasn't until Wednesday (almost a week after installation) that I noticed water trails along the outside of the west front porch downspout and drips not going into the rainbarrel. So I called and the company said there would be a crew out on Friday to fix it... no specific time was given (or asked for). No problem, I'd be available all day.
Around 2:00 pm I realized I needed to do a short errand in town and the crew had not arrived yet. So I called to find out if there was an expected time of arrival. It turned out there was a crew working NEAR us (how very unusual, LOL) and they would be coming here as soon as they finished that job, but they had discovered a problem on that job that was causing unforeseen delays. (Well, of course, that is the nature of the construction/remodeling universe.) BUT, they would still be coming on Friday, probably after 5:00 pm. No problem on my end... I was able to go do my errand without worrying I might miss them. |
When 7:00 pm came and it got dark, we figured they weren't going to make it after all and I would have to call on Monday. Suddenly we saw lights come up our driveway! We quickly turned on the outside lights so they would not just drive away.
It was a different crew of two (2) guys, both of whom spoke more English (which, I must admit, was a relief since we were having to explain where there were problems). The hubby had left the Little Giant ladder on the porch so the crew would not need to haul a ladder off their rig.
Once again, I was very impressed. The first crew did a great job, but no one is perfect and they missed a couple of things. This second crew (using both their smartphone light and a headlamp) not only fixed what we thought was causing our drip problem, but inspected the rest of the job and fixed a couple of other things that were contributing to the drip or that were just done incorrectly.
I really appreciate 1) they were willing to extend their work day to make sure we were accomodated, 2) they inspected the entire job and reported back to the company (which I assume is so the first crew could be retrained on what they did wrong), and 3) they fixed everything in a very professional and efficient manner.
If only every construction crew worked with such integrity. Five out of Five Stars! |
