Robert Jones Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Lack of gutter at the second level, would you call this one? Is this considered a dormer? Click to Enlarge 43.36 KB
Rob Amaral Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Yes... but did you see a negative impact 'as-is' because there was none? Overflow of lower gutter, damage, erosion, splash-back at grade, etc..
Inspectorjoe Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Why do the rake boards extend past the fascia?
Ben H Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Why do the rake boards extend past the fascia? Because saw blades are expensive.
Tom Raymond Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Why would you want a gutter up there? To keep water off the lower roof? Really?
hausdok Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Why do the rake boards extend past the fascia? Hi, In answer to Robert, yeah, report the missing gutter on the shed dormer. In answer to Joe and Ben, they've been doing that here for a hundred years. We have very deep overhanging eaves here that help to shield the walls from the weather. In fact, the eave of that dormer is short compared to the others on that house, and the rake boards on the lower roof are even a little short because they don't completely conceal the ends of the gutters, which is the way they are usually cut here. The Klondike gold strike occurred in the late 1890's which was smack dab in the middle of the craftsman era, and it was during that time that this region had one of its biggest population/construction explosions. During that era, it was all about exposed woodwork and brackets and rake board design is an important aspect of that design esthetic. It's carried over to this day. Check out the rake boards on this 4-year old townhome which tries to emulate that bracketed style (These eaves are a little shorter than the typical overhang here. Getting up on that roof was....interesting.) Click here Tom, It rains a little bit here and that rain doesn't just last for a little while like the typical eastern gully washer - it continues for days. Algae and moss will typically develop in the shaded area below/besides dormers. The black algae is more aggressive than the green algae but I have no idea why. That combination of algae and water cascading onto the surface can cause the the protective surface granules to slough off and you end up with heavy wear where the water strikes the surface. The typical solution here is a gutter with a downspout that empties onto the lower roof. It works fine except that if a homeowner here isn't careful to kill any algae that developes at the outflow of the downspout he ends up with a concentrated area of wear right there at the outflow. I see it all the time where there is algae growing at outflows while the roof is fine where there is no fungi. Had one recently where the house was oriented so that the front of the house was exposed to the southwest. The downspout of that dormer's gutter, being on the southwest side, was on the weather-exposed side of the house but the roof was in perfect shape there because that's also the sunny side here and the UV exposure had killed the algae. On the opposite (northeast) side, there was algae growing below an identically-configured downspout and on that non-weather/non-sunny side of the house therre was black algae all over the roof and the water from the gutter had caused an ugly christmas-tree-shaped swath of granules to slough off from the downspout outflow all the way to the gutter at the edge of the lower roof plane. So, a gutter narrows the area of damage but it doesn't eliminate it unless they add a butt-ugly downspout lying on the surface of the roof from the corner of the dormer to the gutter; or they are careful to ensure the fungi that develops is killed in a timely manner. Sorry, can't point to any "scientific" proof of this. All I can tell you is that after 16 years of making observations of roofs here, one kind of gets a handle on what works, what doesn't and why. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike
Inspectorjoe Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Why do the rake boards extend past the fascia? ....... and the rake boards on the lower roof are even a little short because they don't completely conceal the ends of the gutters, which is the way they are usually cut here. I don't think I've ever seen it done that way. What's the reason for it? I'd think it would allow at least a little water running off the roof to miss the gutter and at the same time, set up conditions conducive to rot between the end of the gutter and the inside of the rake board extension. Around here, the gutter typically extends past the rake board a bit, or at the very least is flush with it. Click to Enlarge 74.9 KB
hausdok Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Yep, You're right. It does cause the ends of the rakes to rot. Most roofers here cut a couple really narrow strips of asphalt and install them shingle fashion on top of that. Some, not many, cover them with bits of metal. Lots of times, if they aren't tacked down or adhered with mastic, those pieces blow off like the strip shown in the photo below. As I said, it's a design choice. It hides those ugly gutter ends and folks seem to prefer that to what you've got in that photo. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike
John Kogel Posted April 5, 2012 Report Posted April 5, 2012 Robert, you are right, the dormer needs a gutter in the Pacific NW, or else there will be a wet wall and worn shingles. Gutter guards will be good to keep Mr Handy down off the roof. And if they extend the downspout all the way down to the lower gutter, that's the best way to finish it off. That eliminates the green slime trail. Yep, rake board past the gutter is standard practice here, too. The better roofers will install a little flashing to direct most of the runoff at the rake edge over into the gutter. Most don't bother, so there is a perpetual drip off the end of the plank, and on an older house, a rotten end that needs to be described and talked about. [] Check out this new townhouse - a double course of shingles to cover the super wide rake planks, so a double wide drip on the patios below. The green slime is already there, too. A balcony drain centered right above the window in the stucco wall. Oh well. It all looks right to the architect. I think that's a Juliette balcony. Romeo can do no wrong. [] Click to Enlarge 55.13?KB Click to Enlarge 77.59?KB Click to Enlarge 34.36?KB
tybertown29 Posted April 6, 2012 Report Posted April 6, 2012 A balcony drain centered right above the window in the stucco wall. Oh well. It all looks right to the architect. I think that's a Juliette balcony. Romeo can do no wrong. [] Too bad she falls through the balcony after that wall rots out. She is the East no She is on the ground OOps. Sorry Sweetie[:-monkeyd
hausdok Posted April 6, 2012 Report Posted April 6, 2012 Hi, Don't refer to it as a "Juliet" balcony; it's just a balcony. Oh, and if you get one of those that's primarily a railing, is maybe only large enough to hang a flower box on and you can't stand on, it's called a balconet, not a balconette. Using the second definition in a report is liable to have readers laughing so hard their sides ache and leave you pretty red faced. Don't ask me how I know that. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike
John Kogel Posted April 6, 2012 Report Posted April 6, 2012 Thanks, Mike. Balconet, like a safety net, got it. That thing in my pic is actually a deck with a room below. I was trying to make a joke out of it. The design is a joke.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now