In the pictures attached, I viewed no downspout on the gutters on the rear dormer. Sellers are pushing back and saying" “concerning “missing downspouts” on page 8 they said “the report is invalid. There are no missing downspouts because the gutter system for the bathroom dormer on the back of the house is designed to catch water off of the small dormer roof and run it back to the main roof to flow down to the main gutter system below.” My response was how is the water supposed to exit the gutter? I saw no opening or drainage ports. This could lead to water filling the gutter and exposing the fascia, and roof sheathing to excessive amounts of water. Any thoughts on how to communicate this is appreciated.
It could be open to the rear, and if it is that’ll lead to deterioration of shingles at that area. Seems like a vulnerable area to me. Also when I see this in my area, that discharge is usually clogged.
Regardless, our job isn’t to mandate fixes, or tell our clients what to do, what to have problems with and what not to. We report what we see. If the buyer has a problem with it the buyer has a problem with it, it doesn’t “invalidate” the report.
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Typically, there is a gap of a couple of inches between the open end of the downspout and the roof shingles. No or small gap equals poor draining. You might want to revisit your photos or the property.
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Thank You Brandon and Brian for the quick response.
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it is a crappy design imho but cheaper to do than adding a downspout, thus the reason You see it done this way
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And downspouts are ugly when you run them to the lower gutter.
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Yep! They don’t care about water damage to the sides of the dormer, they just want to make it look “purdy”. Even if they would put the downspouts at low end and direct them out, away from the dormer, it would not be that visible and serve a better purpose. I have come across a few of these situations.
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I’ve had conversations with roofers on the best way to manage the drainage in these areas. If the cut-back is left open, it encourages the gutter to discharge up the roof slope somewhat, the opposite direction the shingles are designed for. It doesn’t always cause a problem, but I have seen a few cases where it caused a leak. When I see an open gutter cut-back, I recommend that the gutter has an end cap and a downspout installed. I see this often enough to have a pre-written narrative for it.
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Ugly they may be, but so is the shingle wear created by all that water coursing over the same shingles repeatedly. As Brandon pointed out it accelerates shingle wear in that area and your report could simply say that. Any change, however, would be an upgrade and not generally considered by the seller.
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Exactly.
I stopped calling it out long ago unless I see damage.
Here is an older roof from today…is there wear that is report worthy?
Same roof, different area…no gutter and bingo, we have damage. Reportable.
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You can still report the first item. It becomes a " poor workmanship" issue in my book. Only an accepted practice on cheaper homes.
Hmmm! Enough for me to report it.
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Just for clarity, not arguing. In your opinion the wear on those shingles below the gutter is report worthy?
I don’t understand what people mean when they say the report is “invalid”. Whatever you state in the report is your professioanl opinion and nothing else.
Just paste the picture posted below into the report for your client to understand what you are trying to tell them. If the seller wants to waste their time, they can try and prove that this diagram is incorrect.
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Seeing and agreeing with your point, those shingles would have no more “wear” than others with a downspout. However, I would report it either way. As unappealing as it is, Best practice is to run a downspout and gutter extension to the lower gutter.
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NO argument, it is best practice. Looking at the OP’s photos, that is a pretty long gutter and will carry a significant amount of water. The bigger the dormer, the more inclined I would be to include it. Good stuff.
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I can see it going either way. I usually call it out, but don’t make a big deal about it.
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Yep…report what you see.
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The water appears to be directed towards the roof at an area which is notoriously hard to flash and seal and against the directions the shingles are laid. So leakage is likely especially over time. So the installation without downspouts is not optimal and not advised.
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That’s a super common installation in my area and nothing I report on. Damage from excess water from an 8’ section of gutter? Not sure I’m on board with that. Damage from the moss and leaf crap that collect there? That I’ve seen and I advise the buyers to keep the area clean. If it’s not a hill I’m willing to die on I typically leave it out of the report. I don’t inspect a house for perfection and 100% adherence to the way I’d do everything. I inspect to whether or not it’s working.
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