Rain gutters - necessary?

[Kelena]

It sounds like the gutters were on the plan submitted to the County. The more important question, though, did you have a contract with a contractor to install gutters, and did you pay him to do that? It is all about what you agreed to and whether those agreed upon expectations were met.

Were they? And now I see they gave you something OTHER than a Paloma water heater? If you are going to get mad, start getting mad sooner rather than later. If none of this stuff was contracted for, that's a different story. If you don't know the difference, contact Peter Kubota.

[Nalu]

I personally have not seen a new home being built without gutters. We install them as a standard part of our homes. The only homes I have seen are those that are older plantation style homes. If this is something that you want and it was agreed upon with your contractor, I would by all means pursue it. I would not want water dripping down the sides of my home. Angela

[Wao nahele kane]

Gutters on a house in high volume precipitation areas are a must if you don't have enough overhang. There are a number of reasons for this and it's not limited to just one or two reasons. Technically speaking - you should divert roof water 10' away from your house foundation/footings, especially if you’re in sediment soils. Heavy Roof slope and rain – anything greater than 1/4" per foot is relatively pointless these days. Slope has become an architectural (appearance) feature and has little to no bearing on today’s roof systems unless it’s a deep snow related feature. Long gone are the days that required palm leaves, moss, bark, tree pitch and other vegetable matter, asphalt tiles, clay tiles, etc.

Edit to add -
Gutters can be used as part of a catchment system but they are NOT EXCLUSIVELY catchment related and were not created for catchment systems, they are an integral part of the roof water management system.

Unless you purchased this house as a builder development type home after it was completed and placed on the market. Anything that was submitted on your plans are part of your contract and by law to be on the house unless you signed a waiver, put in a change order or made a verbal agreement otherwise. From what it sounds like to me... it sounds as if your contractor is still responsible to put them on via his or her nickel. Also; if your plans or contract called for a Paloma water heater, the contractor is responsible to install a Paloma or something of equal quality and value if no Paloma was available at the time of installation.
E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[pahoaprincess]

I know your builder, and ask him to show me the plans to your house. There are no gutters drawn or called out on your plan. Maybe you should look at them closer before you complain.

[StillHope]

The plan has a catchment on it and was approved by the building department.

To my understanding the catchment can not be without rain gutters.
If the building department missed it...

Btw,Princess,you first showed up on the PW 15 min.after

I e-mailed John Rabi that I am removing his recommendation of the builder from my post .

Respecting John,I wanted to leave him out of this.

Now when John decided to defend the builder,you jump up again.

Well,I don't know what castle you live in..

But John Rabi' doesn't need your protection.

And I am very grateful to him no matter what.

[pahoaprincess]

The topic is about raingutters. Have you spoken to your builder about it? If not, why not? If so what did he say? Seems like a better way to go about finding out the answer to your question.

[Wao nahele kane]

As an architectural designer, contractor, etc for the past 30+ years. I wouldn’t even consider calling a house finished if it was missing rain gutters unless specifically engineered to work without them and or in an extreme low precipitation region. Gutters are as important as rain flashing and other sometimes not specified details.
There was a time when such details were not called out on plans and or specified in code, yet, we did them because we understood how to build a house properly and that’s what separated the professional from the amateur.
Caveat here… most contracts specify that the work and craftsmanship will be performed in a professional mannerism congruent to the trade. Think about that very carefully before responding to what I’ve expressed.

This issue is about as silly as not painting a house that is not using pre-finished grade materials.


E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.

[john the architect]

See my reply to the more recent post on this topic. A home without gutters sits above wetter soil, either on grade or over a damper crawlspace. What breeds mold and mildew? These damp spaces. Healthy homes always use gutters. Building departments have standard checklists that do not include all the elements for a healthy home. The 'mountainside wilderness gentleman' is correct that experienced designers think of these things and expedited delivery systems tend to cut corners. Life is choices.