Rain Gutters

[Phaedrus]

First, I want to thank Mark and all the staff here for their invaluable help with getting my first mobile home to the livable state it now is. Mark's book, the advice from staff and users, and parts from the store have helped me fix the furnace and repair the underbelly so that we weren't cold this winter despite very cold outside temps.

Now, the wife wants to have new rain gutters put on the home. The original manufacturer gutters (1994 Skyline Model 66x14 Sabre 4305A) are very small and in a heavy rainstorm water runs over and under the gutters and down the outside wall. Long term, this is not good. These gutters are about 8-ft long, whereas the new gutters will be one piece, no seams.

My question relates to how the new gutters should be installed. The company we contracted with said that on mobile homes they put them under the current gutters and clip and bend the current gutters so that water will pour out of them into the new. In part, they claimed that this approach was because original gutters are part of the roofing system. I got up on a ladder and took a close look. The gutter has a 1-inch flange in the back, but instead of putting it under the roofing metal, the builder bent in flat behind the gutter, and over a layer of putty (like that under the windows) screwed the gutter to the side. My thought is that this is where we are getting the leaks which down the outside wall, and that it should all be removed, screw holes patched and new gutters put on just below the roof line with looks of professional caulk.

What do you all recommend, or have you done?

Thanks,
Phaedrus (in Colorado)

[Yanita]

Hi,

The company you contacted did tell you the correct way of installing traditional gutters on mobile homes. This is also covered in the manuel, chapter 30-1.

If you think that water is running down thru cracks in the caulking then you would need to remove all that and clean the area well, reseal with a neoprene caulking. Then go ahead and install your gutters per instructions in the manuel.

Take a look at the photo on the left on page 30-7, are your gutters like that?

Thanks for the compliments to those that use and run the site! Glad to know that we have been able to help you make your home a comfortable place to live!

~Yanita~

[troyster]

Hi Phaedrus. What I did when I installed my gutters was I bent in half 12 inch aluminum coil stock (flashing) then ran it over roof & tucked inside of gutter. The flashing goes right over the stock "mini" gutters. I then screwed the flashing down to the roof after coating with polyurethane roofing caulk underneath flashing then coated top of seam and coated under & over all screws. Later I will coat whole flashing with liquid rubber. this is my solution and it works excellent. I will put a picture of this in Troysters photo album for you to see.

[Greg]

I would stick with the installer's recommendation for a few reasons. First HE will be responsible for any problems. Second, YOU would have to remove and seal up about a half a million screws to get the old gutters off and remember that every hole is a possible leak. Greg

[Robert]

Hi,

You got excellent advice here, so I will basicly just be agreeing with it.

The water is more than the small V gutters can handle, backs up before it can flow and seeps through cracks in caulk at edge of roof/wall, thus running down behind the wall.

By bending the outer V down inside new gutters, all water goes into the new and larger gutter that can handle the flow amount.

There should be no backflow and thus solve the problem.

As added security, you clean old caulk away with steel bristled brush or grinder and reseal with neoprene caulk (bought here in store or at local Wal-Mart (Blackjack)).


As a second added security, follow Troyster's advice and place flashing under roof IF shingled.

IF metal, do not do this due to the added leak possibilities by taking the gutter loose and roof to do this.


IF you have large and deep enough gutters to allow constant flow and thoroughly clean and seal the seams with neoprene, all should be fine.


The new gutter slides up and under old V-gutter as installer stated.


Proper application of neoprene underneath, over the top and along seams is the key here.

Be sure the old is removed and clean the area if covering an old seam.

On new seams, clean area well also.


Take care and best wishes,
Robert

[troyster]

My suggestion does not involve removing any screws or gutters big & small. The gutters can be left as is and the flashing can be applied. Please refer too Troysters photo album too see what I mean . You cannot see the original mini gutters as they are under the flashing. This is the same principle as flashing a mobile home too an addition.

[Guest]

My suggestion does not involve removing any screws or gutters big & small. The gutters can be left as is and the flashing can be applied. Please refer too Troysters photo album too see what I mean . You cannot see the original mini gutters as they are under the flashing. This is the same principle as flashing a mobile home too an addition.

I had the J-rail 'V' gutters. Completely inadequate for the rainfall where I live. My 1975 SW (domed roof) had water in the walls, in a few of places, which was mystifying everybody. The place has supposdely decorative trim, sort of like a flattened C, running around the top of the siding. Turns out that the siding didn't go all the way up to the gutter edge behind the trim, over the years the trim had warped in places, the rain overflowed the "V' gutters, ran behind the C and then behind the siding, and that was the cause of my problem.

I finally found a decent roofer after many false starts. Personal recommendations do work. This guy installed roofing called Resisto, which is a cold-install version of torch-on. He went around the roof and screwed flashing into the original roof, then installed the Resisto over the roof to overlap the flashing. As I type the men are up ladders installing regular gutters and downpipes.

I can't wait for it to rain!

Nicky

[Yanita]

Hey Nicki,

So glad to hear from you again! Thought you had left us!

So glad to hear that you are finally getting the work done, that must be such a relief to you.

Now that the roof is done you can slowly start moving forward with the rest of your projects!

Take care and certainly hope we hear from you more often.

~Yanita~