Gutter Issue: Remove or Repair?

Hello,

There is only one gutter on our house, it runs along part of the back (East) side of the house and then for a few feet on the South side.



About ten feet of the North end of the gutter has become detached. Where the gutter has fallen, it has dug into the roof tile of another part of the roof.



The gutter isn't very effective. When there's a heavy downpour, which happens all the time here in South FL, the gutter gets overwhelmed and the water just splashes onto the awning and down to the Trex decking. Of course, if it were fixed it would behave differently.



The image above shows the dark water spots on the Trex. The material isn't rotted and could be cleaned. Under the Trex are wooden joists, which sit on small metal "feet," which sit on concrete that goes around the pool. I believe the wooden joists are still in good shape, because I've taken up the Trex in another part of the deck (see the blue tape in the 1st picture?) and the joists are in good shape in that area.

Just an FYI, there was a downspout for this gutter on the South side of the house. It was removed when the deck was installed in 2009. It ran down the wall next to the shed. I can see where the screws went into the concrete wall.



So, currently, the water just pours through a hole in the gutter. and splashes onto the shed. The house was built in 1971. I see no erosion around the house.

I drove around the neighborhood looking at gutters. A few houses don't have any at all. Quite a few have gutters only in the back. I even saw one gutter with no downspout, right over a sidewalk entrance to one home. But most homes have complete guttering.

I'd imagine a fix wouldn't be too difficult. Would I shore up the holes with some sort of wood filler? But the temptation is to just take it out. The water mostly just comes over anyway.

I'd be glad to hear any opinions about how I should proceed. Thanks

Where does it drain? Down pipes?

That gutter is helping to keep debris on the roof from washing into your pool. The gutter should be behind the drip edge and you need a downspout to direct the water away.

Thanks for replies!

Oldog - I'll answer your question two ways. 1) Currently about 1/3 of the rain that comes down off of the roof flows the wrong way (North) and pours over the gutter onto the deck. Here is a picture of the detached 10 feet, the North part of the gutter....



If the gutter was fixed, the water would flow out a hole where the downspout was. This is on the South side of the house:



The downspout was removed when the deck was installed 6 years ago.







Beachguy -

The gutter was in the same shape when this rain storm hit last year:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/weather/rainfall-estimates-in-hardest-hit-areas/ncjHW/

Nearly two feet of rain in a 24 hour period! Here's my point, and I should keep an open mind since I know very little, and I've posted here to hear and learn: the concrete which is under the deck has to be properly raked to shunt the rain away from the house.

If the gutter is repaired, and a downspout installed, I believe large amounts of water are going to come off the roof back there anyway. Only part of the back of the house has a gutter.

Of course, somebody way back when had the view that the gutter was needed....

Anyway, if I'm going to put the gutter back up, what's a good material to fix the holes with?

Forgot to add - Beachguy -

Regarding debris, the strong east-to-west sea breeze constantly fills the pool with leaves from some huge trees. We live next to a golf course. It's a bummer! There was an enclosure, but it was collapsed by the October 2005 hurricane.

Here's the same house, with the metal storm shutters on over the big back windows:

here is what i would do i would replace the gutter this a deeper one add at least one more downspout but id also increase the downspout size if it came down to it id put in a plumbing system to get the water away from the house. but that being said it does not matter what you do in a hurricane it will still overflow

Because the gutter is detached, it can't drain (not enough slope). That can be part of the reason why it overflows. it may also be improperly sized for the roof. I understand FL gets heavy rain, and it may be impossible to catch it all, but I have to believe that it does some good. The staining might increase if the gutter is removed.
Once the water is on the ground, does it create a problem? Flooding? Soggy ground? etc? Any water infiltrating the building?

Schlich - yours is just the sort of comment I'm looking for. I will bring that up if I end up meeting with a gutter company.


Slow - I contacted Trex about the staining. As I recall I was told it was algae. This was not an email, it was a conversation, so I may be misremembering. I'm more certain I was told that the Trex can be powerwashed or scrubbed with a weak soap, and the material will look consistent over the entire deck.

Regarding the location of the cement that surrounds the pool, I just stuck a piece of wire down between the planks to measure how far down it is right near the house. It is a 7 inch drop off. When the deck was constructed in 2009, they made the height of the deck match the floor of the living room.

I'm certainly willing to listen to more comments, but I'm warming up to the idea of taking the gutter completely out. It's been detached for over two years that I know of. We've had some massive rains, and while I don't know where the water goes, I know it doesn't come into the house.

We had the roof inspected for insurance purposes about a year ago. There was no report of water damage.

If I was going to re-insert the big gutter nails into the house, do you know what material I should use?

Also, I need to repair the roof tile which the gutter is resting on. Any idea what I should use? I lifted up the gutter and took a picture of the damage.

If you are going to reattach the gutter, use hidden hangers. They are secured with screws and hold better than spike and ferrules.

The house should have been buit with a raised rake board with proper flashing, water would be directed to the lower side and gutter there.