Do back spouts work with gutters?

8 years ago

we're building a home with hidden downspouts. Due to height constraints, I cannot connect the drainpipe to the bottom of the gutter as it is normally done? Any downside (no pun intended), if we connect the drainpipe to the back wall of the gutter and turn it downward a foot or two later?

we get a LOT of rain. I've measured as much as 8"/hr. the gutters are 12" wide by 5" deep, 100ft long, serving 3,000sqf of roof (standing seam, 6%pitch)

thanks for your help

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Comments (3)

kudzu9
8 years ago
Hidden downspouts are an accident waiting to happen...maybe not immediately, but some time in the future. I once had a set of gutters and downspouts with the end of one gutter buried in the siding. That end of the gutter inevitably leaked, but the siding didn't show anything until I noticed a slightly odd looking spot on the wall it was butted into. I pulled the siding and found the 2X6's that supported the wall had turned to mush and a moisture ant colony had set up home inside. I had to completely rebuild the wall. If you have downspouts with their many connections hidden from view, you will have a problem. I've owned homes for 4 decades and have never had a gutter and downspout system that didn't periodically leak. As for your plan to have an unorthodox connection to the drainpipe, I suspect that that is just going to increase how soon you have a problem.

I know this is not the answer you wanted, but I urge you to reconsider how you are approaching your rain handling system.
Jean-Robert Strele
Original Author
8 years ago
thanks Kudzu. valuable information. The walls are poured concrete, so not quite as prone to rotting as wood. Also, the downspouts are hidden from the exterior, but run down the inside of the walls, easily accessible and visible, until they disappear into the ground to join the rainwater cistern...
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kudzu9
8 years ago
Okay, that's better. I'm unclear about the design, though. Are the downspouts on the inner walls of a courtyard, then, or what? And would you be able to keep an eye on all parts of the system: 1) so that leaks were immediately obvious, and 2) you could easily remove or repair any component that started to leak?