Installing and Maintaining Gutters
Investor · Manitou Springs, CO · Member since 2016 · 57 posts · 25 votes
Installing and Maintaining Gutters
Most Popular Reply
Alex CraigBusiness Member
Real Estate Professional · Memphis, TN · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votesI thought I would jump in here since I am the seller and respond to the "BS" comment as that make it sound like we are dodging responsibility or trying to cut corners during the rehab. Like most older homes built in the 50's and 60's, especially on this street, gutters are non-existent. @Kyle Myers thank you for kind words on being easy to work with on the sell. We feel the same working with you too. Mainly want to respond to provide some other thoughts on why one would not want to install gutters on houses that do not currently have them. I think one needs to think about gutters from 2 perspectives, one as a owner occupant and the other as a landlord.
Gutters in my opinion are certainly necessary on some homes, especially those whose natural lot does channel water away from the dwelling, especially if there are basements. This house does not have a basement. If you google street view the house, one would notice their were not originally gutters on the house, thus we did not add. This would not be a standard add as a lot of homes in our markets do not have rain gutters, actually I would say 1/2 of the older builds do not. A simple google earth drive down the street will uncover that.
I have 17 rental myself and if the homes have gutters, I will keep them if they are in good shape, but I have removed quite a few over the years as the house naturally drains fine and the amount of trees on the lot constantly fill up the gutters. Some tenants are great about keeping gutters cleared out, but some are not. While I will push 100% of the time for tenants to keep their yard clean and landscaped, pushing a tenant who does not want to get on a ladder is not a great idea as this certainly opens up one to a lawsuit if something were to happen. The most expensive codes on Workers Comps are those that get on roofs and ladders. Also, some are not physically capable of doing this. I have a blind tenant in one of my houses and that happened to be one of the ones we stripped gutters off of. I simply did not want to send someone to clean out gutters every 2 weeks or after a major rain storm.
@Ryan B. while paying someone $50 sounds like a good idea once a year, the reality is, in Little Rock there are ALOT of trees (this house especially) and the leaves are not 100% off the tree until January to February. Leaves start to fall in late September, early October. The rainy season tends to be October to February, thus leaving yourself the potential of those gutters to be jammed pack and doing ore harm then good.
@Kimberly H. I don't think I need to prove. The older homes simply do not have them in our market. Google 5400 Keats, Little Rock, AR and you will notice most of the homes do not have gutters--this is very typical for older homes. Also notice the street shot of the house from 2007 shows the home without gutters Also, it is hard to tell, but from 2007 to 2014, the last owner did a lot of work, which included putting on a new roof and enclosing the carport. Both were probably expensive rehabs for a home owner not privy to discounts investors get. At no point during 2007 to 2014 were gutters installed.
My personal home, not gutters on the front, I have been there 8 years without a issue. Certainly have gutters in the back as the natural fall of the lot requires me to have these.
Anyways, like Kyle said, we are fixing everything the inspector identified--that is pretty typical with TK. If I am not mistaken, he did not even ask. We simply marked it up and sent it to him. Some landlords like things added to the house there were not planned or on the original construction/improvement of the home. All we did is layout reason why we do not add gutters to homes that never had them.
10 Replies
- Rental Property Investor · Oconomowoc, WI · Member since 2016 · 996 posts · 431 votes10y
The lack of gutters and downspouts can be a concern for soil erosion and possible unit flooding. A gutter serves to divert the rain to one direction and keep water from traveling down the roof through cracks in the door frame, weatherstripping or siding. The downspout diverts all that water away from the building so it doesn't cause foundation related issues. Diverting the rain water at least a few feet away from the building is in the best interest of the property.
- Residential Real Estate Broker · Chicago Suburbs, IL · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 594 votes10y
i call bs on that one. Make him prove how it was "designed" to not need a gutter. Outsource gutter cleaning.
- Contractor · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2014 · 651 posts · 510 votes10y
1, You do need gutters.
2, Cleaning & maintaining them should not be a tenant's responsibility. It's too dangerous.
- Investor · Coeur d'Alene, ID · Member since 2016 · 551 posts · 218 votes10y
You can't design a roof to function without gutters all the water from the roof will fall right below the roof line and cause flooding plain and simple. Gutters need to be installed to direct water where it will run away from the foundation.
Not sure I'd press the issue to have the seller install these, but They do need to be installed one way or another.
Also don't demand tenants to clean gutters, it won't get done and it's to much of a liability for you.
- Investor · Juneau, AK · Member since 2015 · 980 posts · 741 votes10y
not to go all Holmes on homes here, but not diverting the water that falls on your roof away from the building can cause chaos...just a blocked gutter and failed sump pump early in my landlord career provided my fourplex crawl space a shallow swimming pool which I enjoyed wading through in winter to install a new sump.... Tough lesson.. And I have seen where the constant drips off the roof erodes asphalt, concrete, etc... So now I am a big believer in properly installed, cleaned gutters....as a turn key you will miss the DIY cleaning but can outsource it, and insist on it around the time the trees in the area have lost their leaves to get you through winter...
- 10yCurt DavisBusiness MemberFlipper/Rehabber · Memphis, TN · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
Here is a video I found on YouTube from a home inspector and his thoughts about rain gutters.
It seems his opinion of gutters is the opposite of what others here are saying. Interesting point of view.
Curt Davis - KAIZEN Realty538 Reviews - 10yAlex CraigBusiness MemberReal Estate Professional · Memphis, TN · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
I thought I would jump in here since I am the seller and respond to the "BS" comment as that make it sound like we are dodging responsibility or trying to cut corners during the rehab. Like most older homes built in the 50's and 60's, especially on this street, gutters are non-existent. @Kyle Myers thank you for kind words on being easy to work with on the sell. We feel the same working with you too. Mainly want to respond to provide some other thoughts on why one would not want to install gutters on houses that do not currently have them. I think one needs to think about gutters from 2 perspectives, one as a owner occupant and the other as a landlord.
Gutters in my opinion are certainly necessary on some homes, especially those whose natural lot does channel water away from the dwelling, especially if there are basements. This house does not have a basement. If you google street view the house, one would notice their were not originally gutters on the house, thus we did not add. This would not be a standard add as a lot of homes in our markets do not have rain gutters, actually I would say 1/2 of the older builds do not. A simple google earth drive down the street will uncover that.
I have 17 rental myself and if the homes have gutters, I will keep them if they are in good shape, but I have removed quite a few over the years as the house naturally drains fine and the amount of trees on the lot constantly fill up the gutters. Some tenants are great about keeping gutters cleared out, but some are not. While I will push 100% of the time for tenants to keep their yard clean and landscaped, pushing a tenant who does not want to get on a ladder is not a great idea as this certainly opens up one to a lawsuit if something were to happen. The most expensive codes on Workers Comps are those that get on roofs and ladders. Also, some are not physically capable of doing this. I have a blind tenant in one of my houses and that happened to be one of the ones we stripped gutters off of. I simply did not want to send someone to clean out gutters every 2 weeks or after a major rain storm.
@Ryan B. while paying someone $50 sounds like a good idea once a year, the reality is, in Little Rock there are ALOT of trees (this house especially) and the leaves are not 100% off the tree until January to February. Leaves start to fall in late September, early October. The rainy season tends to be October to February, thus leaving yourself the potential of those gutters to be jammed pack and doing ore harm then good.
@Kimberly H. I don't think I need to prove. The older homes simply do not have them in our market. Google 5400 Keats, Little Rock, AR and you will notice most of the homes do not have gutters--this is very typical for older homes. Also notice the street shot of the house from 2007 shows the home without gutters Also, it is hard to tell, but from 2007 to 2014, the last owner did a lot of work, which included putting on a new roof and enclosing the carport. Both were probably expensive rehabs for a home owner not privy to discounts investors get. At no point during 2007 to 2014 were gutters installed.
My personal home, not gutters on the front, I have been there 8 years without a issue. Certainly have gutters in the back as the natural fall of the lot requires me to have these.
Anyways, like Kyle said, we are fixing everything the inspector identified--that is pretty typical with TK. If I am not mistaken, he did not even ask. We simply marked it up and sent it to him. Some landlords like things added to the house there were not planned or on the original construction/improvement of the home. All we did is layout reason why we do not add gutters to homes that never had them.
- Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 0 votes7y
Most experts recommend at least twice-a-year cleaning and inspection of gutter systems most especially in commercial establishments.
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