Gutters, why?!

[xairbusdriver]

Around here, if one doesn't install rain gutters ASAP, ones house ends up red-clay colored from ground level to about 3 feet up. Some pay for sod, at least for a couple of feet around the entire foundation... some of which may survive till construction ends.

When I was "upstairs" a couple of months ago, surveying where to install the anemometer, I noticed a strange gutter "design" on the 'doghouse' I eventually used for mounting. The 'doghouse' covers two large rooms, but only about 60% of the width of the rear roof. The gutter, therefore, is a very, very wide "U" shape; ~30' wide and ~11' on each of the two sides.

What seemed strange to me is how those two "ends" were terminated. Actually, it was how the were not terminated!  One end of each leg obviously joined the ~30' piece with a 90? corner. The other end was cut at an angle. Period. There was nothing but an open end! That may be the normal way it's done. It doesn't seem logical to me, however. OTOH, I've noticed some roofers defy logic in many other ways! Maybe the roof tilts much more than I think, but it certainly looks like the easiest path for any water in those side gutters is toward the open end! What's the point? I would have sworn the whole point of a gutter is to direct the water where one wants it, not where gravity tends to put it!

I fixed the open ends buy cutting a bit off the open end so I could install an amazing simple accessory called a 'gutter end cap/piece'. Someone thought these would be a splendid way to terminate the open end(s) of a piece of gutter! What a concept! I was expensive; ~$1.79 each! Probably a lot cheaper than the roof repair I'm going to plan for in a few years... I do need to buy the wife a new pair of sewing scissors...

[elagache]

Dear X-Air and WeatherCat DIY types, . .

I do need to buy the wife a new pair of sewing scissors...

If you don't have a pair, do yourself a favor and get yourself a set of aviator tin snips.  That way you don't have to run afoul of SWMBO . . .


Better still, The next time you need to make a sheet metal framework to support your headlight relays and daytime running light controller . . . you'll have just the tool!   

Cheers, Edouard 

[xairbusdriver]

...actually, SWMBO doesn't sew any more, so... fortunately, I do have some tin snips, and the seem to work on aluminum, also. I guess I'm also lucky that, while I was an aviator, I never ran into any one those special "aviator tin snips", especially when I was wearing my tin suit... [removed link to the now castly photobucket.com site]