Gutters aren't big enough?

20 years ago

Is it possible our gutters aren't big enough? We have a 1 1/2 story Cape Cod - the roof is very, very steep. We have standard gutters. The gutters constantly have mold/mildew where water runs over. I clean them monthly - they are not blocked.

I ran a hose last week to make sure the drains at the curb are open - they ran fine.

Can it be that the gutters just aren't big enough to handle the volume of water from the roof?

Can anyone offer advice? THANKS!

Featured Answer

fusion866

20 years ago

if its not the pitch, it may be that the gutter i just too long for the amount of water coming off the roof and cannot drain quick enough. if this is the case you want to add a downspout at the other end and repitch half the gutter in that direction.

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Comments (6)

normel
20 years ago
It may be that the pitch of the gutters is not steep enough to allow all the water to run out, or there may not be enough downspouts.
tryinbrian
20 years ago
My experience is that standard gutters have more than enough capacity for even the heaviest rains - as long as they are pitched (even slighty) toward the downspout and it is not plugged. My complaint about gutters is that it doesn't take much to plug the downspout hole (a few leaves, twigs or "helicopters"). I just can't picture a gutter filling up and running over that is not plugged at the downspout.

Have you actually seen them running over, or do you assume they are based on the mildew? Maybe some of the discharge from a dormer is causing the flow to go right over the gutter rather than into. If so, re-positioning the gutter to make sure it cathces everything should solve it.

Better put on a raincoat next heavy rain and see what is really happening.
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mary_228
20 years ago
If water isn't pouring over them during a rain, it may be what is referred to as tiger-striping, caused by dirt that collects on the top edge of the gutter becoming liquified during a rain and dripping down the front surface. I saw this on a new gutter installation and assumed it was from overflow but was then corrected. Now when I think about it, I used to complain about my own gutters having this same phenomena. Now they are probably evenly dirty so I don't notice! FWIW, I was told that some brands of gutters have a coating to minimize this effect.
jasper_60103
20 years ago
mommabird:
just curious if your problem was fixed.

My mom has the same problem. Had a new roof and gutters put on last year.

But recently during heavy rains she notices water overflow near the rear of the house.
When the roofer looked at it (days later), he noticed one downspout was plugged. Once the debris was removed, it drained immediately.

Since then, she (Mom) had the gutters cleaned, but the problem reoccurs during heavy rains.

I recently had the home inspected and he agrees it must be a pitch problem. He says it can remedied by removing the gutters and repitching them or adding another downspout. He favors adding another downspout since it would more likely fix the problem for sure.

Now, I just need to beat-up on that roofer to fix this mess!

-jasper
jasper_60103
20 years ago
yeah, the roofer came out again, re-pitched gutters and cut-in another downspout.