Gutters

[Ramper]

I have a 30 x 40 shed and the water is bouncing up on the front side (1 man door and 2 overhead doors). I want to install a gutter (1 40 foot gutter), but I have a few questions
-are DIY gutters gong to hold up (I live in MN)
-steel vs aluminum
-what about size? 6" or 5"
- I would really like only 1 downspout as one end is sloped away, but the other is fairly flat
- Is it OK not to do the other side? Slope away (drops 2 feet in 4 feet) and have not had water issues (drops off to a cornfield within 4 feet)

I see three options
- DIY (short pieces) either vinyl or metal from HD. LOWES, MENARDS
- DIY (long piece) either Menards (special order) or have a seamless company "chop and drop"
- INSTALLED if I wait until the gutter guys are working close by, maybe they could just come out and put mine up quickly. The building only has 10 feet walls and ladders can be placed on the ground.

 

[jetnow1]

40 foot is too long for one downspout, I would have a one piece dropped, here I can have
it done on 24 hours notice. use the larger downspouts, they will still work with a standard
5 inch gutter, but will drain much more. You will need 2 people to install a 40 foot gutter
but it is not hard to do. Aluminum is fine, as is doing one side if the appearance does not
bother you or any significant other.

 

[Ramper]

the side that will be done faces the house. The backside faces a cornfield.

 

[shelteredV]

A decent gutter company can roll out a length of 6", cap it, downspout it, hang it, and put the leaders up for about the cost of you buying the parts.

 

[Ray-CA]

We have 30-ft gutter with one downspout and they work fine. We've had a couple of storms that dropped 3+inches of rain in an hour and the gutter/downspouts handled it fine.

My concern where you are would be ice dams forming and plan a way to avoid those.

Good luck

Ray

 

[BgBmBoo]

FWIW, we have a 100' Morton building and Morton installed two downspouts right next to each other on one end of the 100' side. No issues over the past 20 years.

If you are worried about flow, maybe you could do something like that?

 

[Kaizen]

We have 30-ft gutter with one downspout and they work fine. We've had a couple of storms that dropped 3+inches of rain in an hour and the gutter/downspouts handled it fine.

My concern where you are would be ice dams forming and plan a way to avoid those.

Good luck

Ray

this is what I was thinking too. definitely run ice cables the length and down the drain. I have them and when everyone else is up on their roofs worrying I just flip a switch and leave it for a day. once a channel opens up and the sun comes out it takes care of itself. soooo worth the money.

 

[James-W]

My suggestion is to go out and check the price to buy everything to "do it yourself" so you know how much it will cost you. Then, get a couple quotes to have a seamless gutter place come and do the job for you. You may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[CJ7VFR]

A decent gutter company can roll out a length of 6", cap it, downspout it, hang it, and put the leaders up for about the cost of you buying the parts.

Yes!

And from what I see, the actual material the gutters are made from is a bit thicker when you get it from an actual gutter company versus what you can buy at a big box store.

That, and most pieces at the big box store come in certain lengths, and if you need a bit more you have to use some type of junction to hook the pieces together, which is just another place for a leak.

A real gutter company can make you any length you need so you won't have to daisy chain pieces together. That and the real gutter company will have a lot more color options to choose from than just White, Off White and Brown that most big box stores have.

If you want to save a few bucks, you can have a real gutter company come out, make you all the items you need, and then you can install the gutter system yourself. You probably won't have any warranty at that point, but at least you will know that you have better quality products at a good price.

Jim

 

[fastjohnny]

Quick thoughts from a seamless gutter installer:

Box store gutter .019, junk, don't touch it, plus lots of leaky seams. You want seamless.
5" gutter .027 or .032
6" gutter .032.

2 downspouts would be optimal, but you might get away with 1.

If you were near me, a 5" gutter with a single 3x4 downspout could be had for around $250 installed. And it would be installed nearly as fast as you walking in to write out the check. Get screw mount hangers, with a #12 screw, Raytec for example. I doubt you will save much by trying to do a chop and drop.

 

[383]

You should be fine with one downspout if you go with 5" gutter and a 3"x4" downspout. We usually figure a maximum of 1,200 sqft of roof per 3"x4" downspout, you are well under that.

Ditto on going with real seamless gutter, also recommend the hangers to be 16" o.c.

 

[bullnerd]

I just had my 30x40 quoted a few months ago, he said one downspout would be fine.

Bigger downspouts and hd hardware like mentioned.

I also have one at the end of my 30' house, no problems.

 

[BADSIX]

Try and get the screw type hangers they are much better than nails and easy to use.
Jay D.

 

[boosteddsm92]

If it's a metal roof you'll need some kind of snow stops on there to keep the snow from ripping off your gutters...

 

[Crazyjake8493]

The rule of thumb is 1 downspout per 20ft. I'd DIY with PVC with the high point in the middle, slope toward the ends of the garage with a downspout at each end. If the other side has proper grading, I wouldn't worry about gutters. Wouldn't hurt to do that side too, though.

 

[ishiboo]

The rule of thumb is 1 downspout per 20ft. I'd DIY with PVC with the high point in the middle, slope toward the ends of the garage with a downspout at each end. If the other side has proper grading, I wouldn't worry about gutters. Wouldn't hurt to do that side too, though.

I doubt there would be a "rule" which didn't take into account the square footage of the roof, but only the lineal length of the gutter.

PVC *****, IMO. You either get the snap-together home center stuff which is awful, or the real stuff you have to solvent weld together. It expands and contracts at a crazy rate. I think 5" or 6" K-style steel/aluminum is the way to go.

 

[bullnerd]

"The rule of thumb is 1 downspout per 20ft."

For what sizes?

 

[theoldwizard1]

A decent gutter company can roll out a length of 6", cap it, downspout it, hang it, and put the leaders up for about the cost of you buying the parts.

Yep !

 

[csp]

"The rule of thumb is 1 downspout per 20ft."

For what sizes?

It's just a general rule of thumb regardless of the size. The larger the gutter is, the larger the downspout will be. This also applies to the square footage of the roof, which of course dicates the proper size of the gutter to be used.

 

[gregtwojeeps]

Every time over the passed 20 years that I installed big box store gutters with their 10 ft. sections and tons of fittings on my projects, I would look back at them later....

Some would be leaking and looking all sad *** with all the splices and I would think to myself, " I wish I had just got a pro to hang seamless. Now it looks like a bad brick job. Paint, caulk nor prayers..... cannot make them look or work , any better. JMO

 

[killahog]

http://rs142.pbsrc.com/albums/r115/killahog/IMG_0984_zpsydbp0nso.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip. I don't mean to hack the thread but with all the expert advice I hope the OP don't mind me asking for a little help here . I need to install a gutter on the face of this block wall. There is only about an 1/8 inch overhang under the tile and I don't feel safe trying to grind away under it. Is there some sort of hanger I can use to support the gutter that will also direct the water into it.?

 

[Ray916MN]

I'm in MN and have a 48' long gutter (handling ~ 800sq ft. of roof) on the front of my workshop with a single down spout. Works fine. The more roof pitch the more you need to think about having some sort of way to prevent snow from avalanching off the roof and ripping your gutters off. The less pitch you have the more you need to consider heating the gutter so the snow melt doesn't freeze the gutter solid rendering the gutter useless in the spring. This is especially true if the gutter is on the north side of the building.

 

[dw1]

I had a price of right at $1000 for 2-50'-6" gutters, 2 - 12' downspouts, installed. I was telling a friend of mine about it, he sent a couple of his guys out, we ordered the material on the phone, it showed up two days later (they rolled the gutters out at my place), they came back and we hung them up. I think material was about $370 and I gave them $150 each. I have $670 in it.

 

[scooterboy]

I have 243' of white 6" .032 aluminum gutter in 4 runs with 7- 3x4 downs on my 40x72 building with a wrap around porch. Screw on brackets and also hangers onto the roof, I don't remember the spacing. Pouring down rain, no problem. Cost this past May was $2000 cash to the owner of the gutter company. I thought he gave me a heck of a good price. I have been sending work his way for a few years and will continue.

 

[fastjohnny]

http://rs142.pbsrc.com/albums/r115/killahog/IMG_0984_zpsydbp0nso.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip. I don't mean to hack the thread but with all the expert advice I hope the OP don't mind me asking for a little help here . I need to install a gutter on the face of this block wall. There is only about an 1/8 inch overhang under the tile and I don't feel safe trying to grind away under it. Is there some sort of hanger I can use to support the gutter that will also direct the water into it.?

There is a cover product called leaf relief that doubled as a hanger and cover, and comes in 10' lengths. It was manufactured by Alcoa. It would work for you, installed with some tapcons.

 

[jives]

I have a 42' run of seamless aluminum gutter on a 9/12 pitch metal roof with only one downspout. Water comes screaming down the roof. No problems whatsoever. Offhand, though, I cannot tell you the size of gutter or downspout.

Why only one side. Water on the backside will splash up and ruin your barn just as much on the back as the front.

 

[killahog]

There is a cover product called leaf relief that doubled as a hanger and cover, and comes in 10' lengths. It was manufactured by Alcoa. It would work for you, installed with some tapcons.

Thank you for the info Johnny .

 

[larry_g]

It cost me $500 for two 48' gutters on my shop, installed. Single downspout on each one and in the last 8 years no problems.

lg
no neat sig line