Alternatives to gutters

[slapshot]

I put up three pieces of the "Rain-Handler" kinda interested in seeing how they work. Havent had much rain, little yesterday and hopefully more today.
I dont have a porch slab just a full wrap around (see attached).I think my best bet may be a mix of both gutters and rain handlers.
Pat, the mesh idea is a good one, how well does it hold up in general and how well does it work with ice in the winter? You also make a good point about not bother burying the drain tile.

Gary,
your right on about silver maple helicopters. They're a real pain in the your know what. My mother-in-law has a fully mature silver maple and it drops tons of the things. They end up either clogging the screens, or they compact flat an become almost like paper. I've begged and pleaded to get rid of the gutter covers it would be far simpler to just clean the gutters out rather than picking helicopters out of the mesh.

-dave

[GaryM]

Slap,

Nice looking place you've got going there!

On the current house we had one of the "GutterTopper" types of setups installed. That's not the one we used, but similar and better made. The leaves or seeds would have to fly horizontaly through a 1/2 inch slot to get into the gutter. Can't even see them from the ground. A lot more expensive than the mesh units, but a permenant solution. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[mikellpc]

Just something to keep in mind when building new construction. When I lived in the UP of Michigan, gutters were useless because of snow/ice dams. The standard practice was to increase roof overhangs from the standard 1' to 2'. No gutters were used. To combat rain and dirt splashing up on the siding(which wasn't too great of problem because the structure was on a higher foundation,up off the ground, because of the deep snow depth by winters end) a border of rock/stone went around the house at a depth of 3" or so. subsoil(underneath that stone border fill) was sloped away at 3/4'' per foot for a three foot wide border. normal soil slope is 1/2" per foot fall. With the additional overhang, landscape plantings etc. were even beyond that 3', so the stone was in fact hidden or incorporated in the landscaping. I carried this idea back to Northern Indiana when I built my home. The extra overhang provided shade for the windows in summer and yet allowed plenty of sun in the winter when it's lower in the horizon. On my pole barn I went with a 1' overhang and used the border idea with just a drip edge over the doorway. I didn't want to see the snow slide off that metal roof and rip those nice gutters down on sunny days. with the stone around the barn I took care of rain, drainage, and a place to put all tose rocks I picked up during final finish grading around the building.

[Pat]

Dave, I have never had "Rain Handler" but... It doesn't take rocket surgery to analyze what they do. They will distribute the water over a wider area than letting it run off the roof with no water handling system. This will reduce the erosion potential at the drip line.

If the wind is blowing toward the house the water will end up against the house next to the foundation which some folks prefer to try to avoid.

The water is distributed over a small area (larger than the dripline would be otherwise) but not carried away from the house.

Some folks go to great lengths to get the water away from the fondation, basement, or other sensitive areas as regards excess water. It is difficult to see how RainHandler will give any benefit in those functiions.

If you have porch slabs or wide sidewalks where the RainHandlers are installed maybe there won't be as great a risk. In some situations the difference of a couple feet won't make much difference. The water will end up underground close to the basement or foundation where some folks don't want it.

What DO they do? Spread the runofff over a slightly wider area when the wind isn't blowing their output toward the house. A sidewalk or decorative rocks or anything on the ground that woldn't be eroded by the undistributed runoff should be as good as a Rainhandler. I can see how thte RainHandler shouldn't clog like a gutter and downspout system but that is an unfair comparison in many instances since the RainHandler doesn't perform the same functions. (A dime in my pocket doesn't clog with leaves either.)

Another important difference is that guters and downspouts prevent your being innundated when you walk along the dripline after a rain or with heavy dew. Some folks prefer to divert the rain water to a catchment, not easy with a RainHandler.

So lets see how this adds up. If you want a system that is virtually clog free uder adverse conditions you can install RainHandlers or take measures to prevent erosion at the dripline and not install any system. The performance would otherwise look to be about the same. None of the other benefits of gutters and downspouts are available with RainHandlers.

Who would benefit with a RainHandler system? Anyne who wanted to spread their roof runoff over a slightly larger area, reducing erosion at the dripline without having to do anything at ground lever at the dripline.

Anyway, Dave, that is my "off the top of the head" analysis. Your mileage may vary. Maybe I missed some important features or benefits of the RainHandler...

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]