Gutters preventing foundation washout is a myth!

[HR_poke]

Prove me wrong...

[happycamper]

they aren't there to prevent washout (usually). they are there to prevent water from pooling against your foundation walls and making your crawlspace perpetually saturated.

or so i've been told. what do i know?

[azgreg]

Prevent? No, but they sure do help, especially on building with insufficient overhangs.

 

[HR_poke]

With the hard rains in FL and sandy soils I've noticed that the sides without gutters have had some issues with washout on my slab foundation.  Our builder refused to put up gutters on any home in the neighborhood, and even put strict limitations in our HOA guidelines to prevent gutters aside from anywhere there is a porch or doorway that would walk through the runoff from the roof.

At our annual meeting last night some retiree from NY asked our builder flat out why they didn't put in gutters and are actively preventing them via.  The builder said gutters preventing any type of washout or water problems with the foundation due to rain was purely a myth.  He reiterated his personal hatred for gutters and expressed that he wished the homes that had them would take them down and they lead to wood rot in the fascia boards.  In his 39 years as a general contractor he had never seen washout happen.  I have honestly never heard that before in my life.  Every home in CO and WY I have ever lived in or visited had gutters as a means of moving water away from the foundations and into storm drains.  And I'm sure I could easily poll all the PE's I work with as clients that would say they are necessary in controlling drainage away from the homes foundation.  I also questioned his 39 years as a GC.  He's a 3rd generation multi-millionaire developer who only does the business side of development.  And I pointed out washout issues during construction that the builder had to remedy in my driveway and sides of the house before sod was in place that would not have happened if gutters were in place.  The superintendent agreed with me and said it's one of their leading warranty issues.  So apparently no one is passing this along to the builder. 

[happycamper]

On 11/26/2024 at 12:31 PM, HR_poke said:

With the hard rains in FL and sandy soils I've noticed that the sides without gutters have had some issues with washout on my slab foundation.  Our builder refused to put up gutters on any home in the neighborhood, and even put strict limitations in our HOA guidelines to prevent gutters aside from anywhere there is a porch or doorway that would walk through the runoff from the roof.

At our annual meeting last night some retiree from NY asked our builder flat out why they didn't put in gutters and are actively preventing them via.  The builder said gutters preventing any type of washout or water problems with the foundation due to rain was purely a myth.  He reiterated his personal hatred for gutters and expressed that he wished the homes that had them would take them down and they lead to wood rot in the fascia boards.  In his 39 years as a general contractor he had never seen washout happen.  I have honestly never heard that before in my life.  Every home in CO and WY I have ever lived in or visited had gutters as a means of moving water away from the foundations and into storm drains.  And I'm sure I could easily poll all the PE's I work with as clients that would say they are necessary in controlling drainage away from the homes foundation.  I also questioned his 39 years as a GC.  He's a 3rd generation multi-millionaire developer who only does the business side of development.  And I pointed out washout issues during construction that the builder had to remedy in my driveway and sides of the house before sod was in place that would not have happened if gutters were in place.  The superintendent agreed with me and said it's one of their leading warranty issues.  So apparently no one is passing this along to the builder. 

Florida is flat AF and the water table is often at the surface. So maybe it is a case of the builder doesn't want to deal with figuring out somewhere downhill of the houses to put the water, lol

[HR_poke]

On 11/26/2024 at 1:02 PM, happycamper said:

Florida is flat AF and the water table is often at the surface. So maybe it is a case of the builder doesn't want to deal with figuring out somewhere downhill of the houses to put the water, lol

They already have to. For every sqft of impermeable space they have to have so many cuft of retention volume. And they have catch basins and drainage easement on every lot rear. For the fronts just chase them to the street which has curb and gutter. The rears should drain to the easement.