This porch roof slopes badly. While the picture doesn’t really do justice as to how much it slopes, I think you will still be able to understand my point. Look at the gutter. Can you see how the gutter has been installed to compensate for the slope of the porch—-as indicated by being able to see more of the end of the left rafter than can be seen on the right one? While in the picture it appears that the gutter slopes slightly to the right, where it would drain around the corner to the downspout, it in fact drains to the left—-where it overflows onto the steps below.
In the NW, this is a problem year-round because if the overflowing gutter doesn’t result in icing conditions it results in moss growth—-either way it leads to very slippery conditions.
The next time it is raining hard, put on your rain coat and take a hike around the house and make sure your gutters are not overflowing anywhere.
This can be a really fun thing to do in the middle of the night with a strong flashlight and you might even get the whole neighborhood wondering what the heck you are up to.
By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle
If you enjoyed this post, and would like to get notices of new posts to my blog, please subscribe via email in the little box to the right. I promise NO spamming of your email
