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seattle_bill
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2011 09:48am
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Q: what are pro's & con's of extending a roof gutter several feet beyond the building profile before a downspout?
Background: I'm creating a 10x14 off-grid camping cabin in the Pacific Northwest coastal area. It has a post & concrete pier "foundation". I had to do a little site leveling so it will be important to keep storm water out. As well there is presently no well, so collecting rainwater will be important even if only for washing and backup. As the cabin will be used intermittently, I want to keep required maintenance to a minimum. It's a monoslope shed roof sloping to back, which is also up slope so the best location to store water so gravity will help get it back. A single run of gutter in back going to a single downspout is obviously fine, but then the question of where to screen out leaves comes in. A leaf screen over gutter or at downspout at end of structure or barrel-top on a barrel right at the corner would all be subject to potential clogging leading to water going right where I don't want it to. But if I extend the gutter 2' out from the structure, posting up or just using the first flush diverter PVC as support, then if a leaf screen there fails the water will go downslope away from the foundation. Since it's at rear of structure up slope and away from any windows and opposite side from entry it won't look unsightly.
But, in web searching I can't find even a single instance of a gutter extending beyond a structure, so maybe I'm missing something here? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
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larryh
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2011 01:06pm
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If all your doing is going out from the building with the downspout it shouldn't be an issue that I can think of as long as its well supported as water is heavy. I may not understand what your attempting to do but we have our extensions on the bottom to take the water away from the house after if comes downward. I guess though your trying to run into a tank above ground level. Here you would have to have the tank underground due to freezing, don't you have freezing out there?
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Just
Member
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2011 10:23pm
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in this pic the short gutter is in place i have a longer one that rests on the back edge of the tank and carries the water 2 feet past the footings. i have a screen on top of the tank,, never plugs ,,the camper is in a thick bush with lots of leaf's it seems to self clean
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Just
Member
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2011 10:46pm
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found this might help
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johng
Member
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2011 11:05pm - Edited by: johng
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another option.
http://www.aquabarrel.com/product_downspout_filters_Leaf_Beater.php
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seattle_bill
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2011 11:32pm
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Thanks all for the helpful replies.
larryh, it doesn't really hard freeze at sea level in Pac NW, at least not regularly: we've had rain barrels on other houses and never had them burst or anything. And the main reason for tank above ground level is to enable gravity flow of water back to house w/out pumping (again we are off the grid here).
Just, your system looks nice & simple and does what I need (get the water past the footings) - only issue is if it *did* clog. That's why I'm thinking of just extending the gutter out from the corner.
johng, yep that looks like a nice turnkey solution but if it is in a "normal" downspout location and clogs when we aren't there for a month or two then we have some potential damage to siding & footings. Also there's the "splash factor" even when it's workng normally. But if I go with my idea to extend the gutter out 2' or so past the structure to a post then the downspout there could certainly have this type of screen, if it clogged then water would flow harmlessly down the hill.
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