If you look at the photo below, you will see evidence of why a home in an area that gets significant rainfall should have gutters and downspouts. The wood fascia, below the roof, has had heavy runoff water routed over it for about five years. Wood that is subjected to heavy moisture will eventually decay. Fungus is moving in on us here, slowly but surely.
If a roof have proper overhang, over the gutters, that wood will be afforded a great degree of protection. And that is very helpful in the long run. This home, like many houses that do not have gutters, is located in a heavy snow region so the owner is probably reluctant to install gutters. They can be prone to coming down when snow and ice collect inside of them. But, without the gutters, the wood is under constant assault in this wet northwest climate.
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Nice view, we just finished putting gutters on our home, can't believe they did not do that when they built it.
Gutters are great... I am amazed at how few homes in Arizona have them... when it rains here, the water just tends to smack you as you walk out the front door.
Do they not paint exposed wood in your area either?
Bruce,
That had clear sealant which is now bye-bye....too much water on it for too many years.
I agree that a gutter is very important especially at the North Oregon Coast.
It is also important to have something at the bottom to distribute the water so that the soil is not washed away below to hurt the foundation.
Steve,
I see this a lot over here. And they almost never flash them on top of that.
Sounds like a very harsh area with so much precip - rain and snow. What do they do out there for water collection if they don't want to use gutters due to ice? Here the capped gutters do pretty well for that.
A friend of mine is the local distributor for these: http://www.kguard.com/
Hi Steven,
Gutters have their good and bad points. Up here in Seacoast NH, they help protect our basements from water seepage, but they also are the major cause of ice damming in the winter. We have moss if the roof is shaded by large trees. The roof in your photo does not appear to have aluminum drip edge which would extend the drip line out about 3/4" from the vertical plane of the fascia.
This is another case of a picture being worth a thousand words. Thanks for the post.
Your Friend in Charlottesville
Jay,
They either do that or put on gutters they can remove in icy weather, if the place is small.
John,
That is true, there are good and bad. The flashing would be a good idea, but if you see the rest of the siding the pounding rain is impacting that as well. Splashing up onto it. That would still be an issue even with a flashing. By state law, here, an inspector is required to cite missing gutters as a conducive condition if doing a WDO report.
Steve,
Gutters are good to have and save alot of issues in basements as well.
Have a great weekend!
Frugality in the wrong place is more expensive in the long run.