DO I NEED GUTTERS?

House without rain gutters - not ours!

"The short answer is yes!" This, according to Phillips Gutters in Plano, Texas. http://www.phillipsgutters.com/do-i-need-gutters. It's great to find images and advice from all over the world on the internet. Some advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but some is unquestionable. So thanks to Phillips Gutters for this image of a house without rain gutters in a heavy storm. 

Lonlay l'Abbaye has had a wet and soggy winter. As the warmer days of spring and summer arrive, and before the rains of autumn come again, we are hoping to have the tiny house's gutters redone. They are in a weak and sorry state at present. If you look carefully at the Google Maps photos below, you can see that the drainpipes on both sides of the house appear to be disjointed, and guttering near the roof corner is rusted. Our builders advised us several months ago that the gutters were worn and probably leaking all down the building, which can result in damage to the stone and even damp transfer into the interior.

Side corner of our house on rue St. Nicholas (rusted drainpipes near directional signs).

Just the door near the corner and window above it are our part of the building.

Rusted pipes under corner gutters.

​Our builder Nicola was good enough to use her French speaking skills to help us engage the services of a local specialist roofer, Monsieur Degrenne. We will be excited to see the new zinc gutters and drains installed once he is able to do the work. I imagine it will have to be done in good weather, as there will be reliance on tall ladders or scaffolding.

We will keep it simple to conform to Lonlay's historical period look. Good thing, or I might be tempted to ask Monsieur Degrenne to install some character drain pipes like the ones shown below. These were photographed in Vancouver, Washington, USA for the blog at http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/palma/2010/01/rain.html. Very creative!