I have a cabin with a flat roof. We don’t have gutters because the snow and ice would rip them off. But not having gutters to divert the water is damaging the exterior of the building. What are my alternatives?—Matthew Schwab, via email
First of all, your roof probably isn’t entirely flat. “In the roofing world, we recognize a flat roof to mean that there’s still at least a two per cent slope,” says Russell Richman, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and a building science consultant. And you can use gutters (a.k.a. eavestroughs) with such a roof. People do. Plus, the kind of eavestrough busting damage that you’re concerned about could happen even if the roof wasn’t flat. In fact, “a sloped roof could be more problematic depending on the specific context,” says Richman.
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But back to your question. You have several alternatives to eavestroughs, but Richman would suggest drip edges: metal, L-shaped brackets that stick out further than the edge of the roof. “They might be an inch or two off the fascia,” he explains. This means that water isn’t trickling down the side of the wood cabin. Instead, you’re forcing it to fall away from the wall. “It might, at times, look like a really slow waterfall—or during a storm, a really fast waterfall,” says Richman.
Since you’re not complaining of water getting inside the cabin, we assume that isn’t happening. But if, for example, water begins collecting around the foundation, you could regrade around the perimeter of the cabin so that the ground slopes away from it instead of towards it.
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As always, it’s tricky to give a perfect solution without seeing the cabin in question. If in doubt, call in an expert. Ultimately, “you just need to be getting the water off the building and away from the building,” says Richman. “That’s the name of the game.”
Got a question for Cottage Q&A? Send it to answers@cottagelife.com.
This article was originally published in the June/July 2024 issue of Cottage Life.
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