My Building and Gutter system
A rain gutter or surface water collection channel is a component of water discharge system for a building.
Water from a pitched roof flows down into a valley gutter, a parapet gutter or an eaves gutter. An eaves gutter is also known as an eavestrough (especially in Canada), eaves channel, dripster, guttering or simply as a gutter. The word gutter derives from Latin gutta(noun), meaning "a drop, spot or mark".
Guttering in its earliest form consisted of lined wooden or stone troughs. Lead was a popular liner and is still used in pitched valley gutters. Many materials have been used to make guttering: cast iron, asbestos cement, UPVC (PVCu), cast and extruded aluminium, wood, and bamboo.
Gutters prevent water ingress into the fabric of the building by channelling the rainwater away from the exterior of the walls and their foundations. Water running down the walls causes dampness in the affected rooms and provides a favourable environment for growth of mould, and wet rot in timber.
A rain gutter may be a:
- Roof integral trough along the lower edge of the roof slope which is fashioned from the roof covering and flashing materials.
- Discrete trough of metal, or other material that is suspended beyond the roof edge and below the projected slope of the roof.
- Wall integral structure beneath the roof edge, traditionally constructed of masonry, fashioned as the crowning element of a wall
Downspout
A downspout, waterspout, downpipe, drain spout, roof drain pipe, leader, or rone (Scotland) is a pipe for carrying rainwater from a rain gutter.
Downspouts are usually vertical and usually extend down to ground level. The water is directed away from the building's foundation, to protect the foundations from water damage. The water is usually piped to a sewer, or let into the ground through seepage
Street gutter
A street gutter is a
depression running parallel to a road
designed to collect rainwater flowing along the street and divert it into a storm drain. A gutter
alleviates water buildup on a street, allowing pedestrians to pass without
walking through puddles and reducing the risk of hydroplaning by road vehicles. When a curbstone is present, a
gutter may be formed by the convergence of the road surface and the vertical
face of the sidewalk; otherwise, a
dedicated gutter surface made of concrete may be present
Box gutter
A box gutter, parallel gutter, or trough gutter is a rain gutter on a roof usually rectangular in shape; it
may be lined with EPDM rubber,
metal, asphalt, or roofing felt, and may be
concealed behind a parapet
or the eaves, or in a roof valley
How do you repair rain gutters?
Allow the insides
of the gutters to dry out, brush leaking seams clean, and then apply
silicone-rubber caulking compound along the seams on the inside and outside to
seal the leaks, as shown at right. Patch small holes with roofing cement. Use a
putty knife to spread the cement generously around the hole
How much slope do gutters need?
To ensure that gutters
drain properly, make certain they slope (½ inch for every 10 feet)
toward a downspout. For gutter runs longer than 40 feet, it's best to
pitch the gutter down from the middle to a downspout at each end
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