Guttering a valley


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Old 05-05-09, 09:43 AM
O
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Guttering a valley

Hope I can describe this well enough for some advice.

The house we just bought has one corner where two gables (?) intersect perpendicularly. Picture two inverted Vees touching at one point, and running off 90 degrees from each other.

The resulting valley collects large amounts of rainwater and then ejects it like a firehose, wreaking havoc on the lawn and landscaping until we put some flat rocks to break up the impact. However, I'd like this to only be a temporary solution (and the water is already drilling into these rocks).

Is there any effective (and hopefully attractive, since it is on the front of the house) form of guttering and spouting that can capture this flow from the valley in a manner similar to those places where we have horizontal fascia for traditional gutters?

Thanks! -Jim-
 
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Old 05-05-09, 01:20 PM
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I have the same structure on my house. If you drive around your neighborhood, you can sometimes see other homes with the same structure. Nearly all of them have a small section of roof built directly under the corner or off to the side with a diverter wall built into it, and gutters below.

Myself, I had nothing but trouble with the way the builder made this bit of roof. Much as I tried to modify it, it had horrible rot and I had to remove it completely. I flashed the corner so it is extends about four inches to dump the water on the ground. Of course, we don't get the cloudbursts that you're used to getting.

If I was a good fabricator, I'd like to fashion a custom gutter to look something like 1/4 of a funnel, and divert the water with a downpipe for a more elegant solution.
 
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Old 05-05-09, 03:49 PM
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In this cookie-cutter neighborhood this model seems to be the only one with this design flaw (in front, anyway). And none of the other homeowners in this model house have done anything about it yet; I've chatted them up and kicked around ideas, but I think they are now watching to see what I do and if it works.

Your funnel idea gives me something to think about. We might end up just putting in a large moss rock in a strategic location, and let Mother Nature pound it into sand over the centuries.

You're right; when we do get rain here in the Houston area it's nearly always a frog choker. So proper water handling is something we have to take seriously.
 
 

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