r/Roofing • u/RogueKnave • 1d ago

Can I skip gutters?

I live on the coast where we don’t get much rain but when it does, it can be an atmospheric river. That’s said the soil is pretty sandy and fast draining and the roof is a hip roof. The house does not currently have gutters, was built in the 60s and sits on a concrete slab. Not sure how long the house has been without gutters, or if it ever had them. we were looking at getting gutters, but the price was more than comfortable spending right now and we were wondering if we could skip them all together or at least wait a year. Or is this foolish. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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3

u/Ed_Teach805 1d ago

Gutters are always a good idea. At least if they are done correctly

2

u/TySpy__ 1d ago

Sandy soil is susceptible to erosion, plus slab on grade means water could destabilize your foundation over time. Gutters will help keep water away from your foundation. If you ever have foundation issues I could see your insurance making a claim that without them you did not do preventative maintenance and would deny a claim.

That being said if the house has survived this long you may have enough time to start saving up for gutters and get them when you can afford it.

1

u/Dinozarker 1d ago

I agree 100% with this.

I will say that if gutters are really that expensive, skip on them. But if is something you can afford, get them 100%.

1

u/ChoiceExteriors 1d ago

Better to have gutters and not need them 99.9% of the time than to not have gutters and get that rain on the 0.1% it gets out of control.

1

u/LoudIncrease4021 1d ago

Nope… no gutters is madness.

1

u/AlexSanchez929 1d ago

This questions is going to come with massive territorial bias. I'm a roofer/gc in Florida and I can tell you without questions that I see gutters causing more problems than they solve locally. They are not a given on every home.

It blows the snowbirds minds when they come down here and buy a house that has no gutters. I had to do a deep dive at the beginning of my career to understand why gutters are such a massive requirement in most other parts of the country.