# New gutters - should they drip a bit?



## joefrompa

Hey all,

I just had new gutters installed along with new siding. They just finished today. Luckily for me, its raining a good amount this evening so I can spot check the gutters and such. Aluminum gutters with no seams except where they go around the edge of a roof line (and thoss seams caulked)

I'm noticing the gutters are dripping along their length. Enough to form a little line in the mulch underneath. 

It seems like some water is gently rolling off the roof and catching the edge of the gutter, rolling down it's side, and then dripping from the bottom.

Is this normal, or should I essentially have no dripping from anywhere along the edge of the gutter?

Thanks!

Joe


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## joefrompa

Not my gutters, but mine are dripping very similarly to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGxGUYrWAX8


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## joefrompa

Again, just checking if this is normal gutter function. My old gutters were totally worn out crappy ones, so I've never witnessed normal new gutter action


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## Swedishchef

Joe,

From the little bit I know about gutters, it is NOT normal. Why put gutters  if they are gonna drip anyway?

When I built my current house, a gutter company came along and installed all my gutters in 1.25 hrs. It cost me $1250 (they used to have the monopoly of the gutter business around here which is no longer the case) but they do not drip one drop. Before they left, they tested with about 20 gallons of water and a hose.

I would call them back. They gutters may have too much of a gap between the shingles and the gutter. The water transfers down the outside of the gutter and not the inside.

Andrew


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## heat seeker

If the water is going behind the gutter, that will rot out the fascia. If it's going on the outside of the gutter, the installation is bad. The purpose of gutters is to lead the water away from the foundation and prevent damage to the garden or lawn below from falling water. Yours are not doing their job, get the guys to make it right! If you paid by credit card, you have recourse for a charge-back - after you have tried to work with the installer and gotten nowhere.


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## Backwoods Savage

Funny you should ask Joe. We installed new gutters and last week we got 4 1/2" of rain one night. The next day I went out and on one side of the house there is just bare sand. Wow. There is a drip line the full distance. I've not yet contacted the fellow about this but will. My first thoughts are that perhaps the rain came too fast for at least part of the time and we have screens on all the eave troughs. Perhaps the rain came so fast the water could not all get through the screen and some got past. It is not a serious thing but I'll be making contact with the guy.


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## fishingpol

Gutters are usually installed with a slight down pitch to the downspouts.  any connections where they go around corners should be sealed with gutter caulking.  When they are installed, the back edge is usually right under the drip edge, and depending on the length of the run, there can be an inch or so of exposed fascia at the lowest end.  I have aluminum fascia covering the fascia and used gutter hangers that are screwed through the fascia and into the rafter tails.  They make a solid install.  I siliconed caulked the whole back edge of the gutter to the aluminum to keep the water from running down behind the gutter. If the drip edge installed properly, water should run off the shingles, down the drip edge and into the gutter.  

I haven't heard them called eave troughs in years.  That brought back memories of an old yankee gentleman that I used to clean gutters for.  He had the electric heater cables weaved in and out everywhere.  What a pain it was to clean with those things in place.


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## maverick06

Gutters... I hate mine, they are junk.... they drip twice as much as the video shows, and some water gets on the metal of the soffit behind them (assume it is going down the metal facia plate, which I understand is still protected). Begardless the gutters have been on the house for decades, I had the roof re-done 5 years ago and still happened. The roofers noted no damage, but maybe that was because they were fixing screwup elsewhere. 

BUT I dont want to spend $1000+ on gutters that may or may not be doing their job... And since mine have done ir for decades... I will let them dontinue to.... 

Should it drip like that, maybe, maybe not... does it matter... probably not...


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## soupy1957

As part of our home reconstruction, for my wife's M.S. (we needed to make it more handicap-friendly), we had new gutters put on the house (the old ones were shot).

We chose Leaf-Guard gutters. They are designed (as you probably know), to keep the leaves out of the gutters (a huge plus for those of us who are tired of cleaning out gutters) and only allow the rain to slide around the top lip, and be re-directed by the gutter.

It would be fair to say that in a windy storm, water is going to not necessarily always behave the way we would like.  Some dripping can and will occur, even with new gutter systems.

That said, I'd only state the obvious.......that a clogged gutter will leak water more.

-Soupy1957


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## Backwoods Savage

Soupy, we had screens put on our gutters to keep out the unwanted. You are right about clogging. If we did not cover them I could just picture them first full of acorns and second with oak leaves come November. We have both red and white oak on one side of the house. Well, we have oaks all the way around but that one side they are the closest.


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## muncybob

I would say the dripping is not normal and should be looked at. The only time mine drip is when they are clogged. I'm assuming they are so new that they are not clogged yet?

I hate cleaning them and it has become a twice/yr. activity. We have several large maples near the house and while they create much needed summertime shade they clog the gutters a lot! Tried sreens, etc but the seedlings seem to get stuck in them just the same and since we have metal roofs many of the products on the market can't be used since I can't fit them under the roof edge.


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## gpcollen1

I have a similar dripping going on and am investigating.  The wild card i am thinking about IS the leaf guard screens they installed.  I think they enable a certain amount of water to work along the screens to the bottom and drip down the front of the gutter.  Front is fine with me but back is a no no.  Ill let you know what i see after I look today...


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## joefrompa

So I've checked them out now and I know what's happening (though I don't know why). 

Water is getting between the gutters and the capped fascia board, running down the fascia, and dripping from there. 

The gutters are properly installed and when I get up on a ladder with the hose and spray the roof, I see the shingles properly dripping into the gutter.

I've asked the company who installed them about it and they said it shouldn't be happening - they see nothing wrong, they got up on a ladder with me, and the first time it happened they said maybe the gutters overflowed from the volume of water (which was possible, but I've now confirmed is not happening).

I can't blame them - I don't see why its happening myself.

The only solution I can think of at this time is to run a thin bead of caulk down the gutter where it hits the fascia board, effectively sealing that off and ensuring water rolls into the gutter itself. Does anyone know a problem with that?


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## billb3

I have new  oversized ( commercial) gutters and downspouts.
They drip a little bit between the gutter and down spout.

When I've been up there in the rain ( once) it was wind driven water.

I'd rather have the air flow when it's not raining to dry things back out.




Course the fascia trim behind the gutter is the only place on the house that's vinyl covered.  
(not being able to paint behind the gutters always bothered me )


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## joefrompa

My fascia boards are semi-rotted 1x6's now covered in white-PVC coated aluminum 

I would totally not care about the dripping except it's leaving a distinct line in my mulch beds. Which, I guess, is a good reason to switch those beds to small stones if I wanted


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