Why no gutters on new houses?
 

Can someone explain to me why on a BRAND NEW HOME gutters and downspouts are not installed? Is there some theory or logic that these are truly optional since there are no basements? It seems EVERY home in developed neighborhoods have them.

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Gutters were not standard issue as far back as 2014 when my home was built. The only gutters installed on my home are those across the exits: the front door and out the lanai.

Many in the neighborhood have had them installed, I have not. If gutters were installed then all the water would be concentrated into one area. Either that area would thrive due to the extra water or it would die due to the concentration of <whatever> being washed off the roof. Without gutters the runoff is distributed around the house. Either my lawn benefits over the entire perimeter of my roof or any <whatever> is less concentrated and less likely to harm my lawn.

The only negative impact I have seen in the seven years I have owned the home is some washout where the water from the roof impacts the non-seeded areas behind the shrubs. Maintaining a layer of mulch take care of that by cushioning and absorbing the falling water.

We have built new or purchased several spec homes in different parts of Florida and not once did they have gutters. Coming from a Northern state in 1983, I asked the first couple of builders. They indicated that the main reason for gutters north, was to keep the water from the foundation where it can freeze, expand, and cause leakage or other damage. Since we have no major freezes, they indicated it was an unnecessary expense. I always added them anyway!

Note that the builder does install gutters on courtyard villas.

First house in 2007 then 2009, 2010, 2012, gutters were installed at door front entrance only. Gutters were not offered at our design team meeting in 2021. Developer could have made at least another $50,000 plus, on upgrades, but the answer was No

Live in the SS area and 75% of my gutters are useless. Leaves clog them up and guards do not work. Only have gutters near doors/walkways. Now get more even distribution of water off the roof and no longer have to clean those gutters

I researched this before deciding to add gutters to my brand new home. They are optional in Florida. I decided that I wanted gutters across the front to keep the entrance and driveway clean. Not all that much more to do the entire house, so that's what I did.

Aesthetics. Roofline trim. Since gutters only stick out about 3 inches once you are beyond them you still have rain to deal with.

to keep initial costs down.

A lot of people (including Premier Homes) don't want them.

Retired builder. Gutters are to control water and keep it away from the foundation so your crawlspace or basement remains dry. Gutters serve no purpose to protect a slab foundation if ground is properly sloped. They also increase the damage to a home. I repaired many homes with rotted fascia, soffits and OSB sheathing. I upgraded my other home with Hardie plank and ran a 4" metal drip guard under the steel roof when I installed the roof.

I was glad I only had a gutter over the garage, doors and lanai here. Saw a house over in Caroline last year that was for sale. The back had heavy fascia/soffit damage from a gutter that was no longer level and it was right under a large tree. I'm sure a ladder kept pushing it down.

One other point, if you install gutters, you will have then concentrated the rain from the roof into a few locations, instead of around the entire house. Be very careful, you will probably need to install underground piping to a suitable location and then a popup drain cover. We had additional gutters installed in the front of the house, the drain was not handled well, lawn died, had to have the drain relocated, and lawn resodded. IMHO, unless you are having a specific problem with rainwater run off do not install gutters these are more of a problem than what they were installed to prevent.

Cheaping Out
 

It costs less money. Just like skipping screens on lanais, not installing ceiling fans, putting in MDF cabinets etc. The builder saves money. Can you blame him?

They quit putting fans in the new ones.

One word
 

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It’s to save money. I’m a licensed termite inspector. Termites love moisture. It’s not a good idea to allow all of this moisture around your home, even worse, is putting mulch on the ground right under your roof line that’s against your house. You’re just asking for trouble. I’ve seen it time and time again with infestations they just love that moist soil.

I wouldn’t own a home without gutters personally.

Well said. The Villages is built on sand, and the elevation of each home comes from building up sand. Sand drains. Gutters leads toward streets that have big drain pipes under them that can fill up during a big storm. That runoff from the gutters has to be treated, and treatment plants cost a lot of money. Your money!

I live in a twelve year old courtyard villa with gutters, so the water from the roof doesn’t hit my courtyard. Still, my courtyard is 3/4 concrete. There’s just a strip of garden along the side and back. When last summer my house got nine inches of water in one day, all of that water ran to the strip of garden and soaked in. There was never any accumulation on the concrete. The rainwater will soak into the aquifer. No further treatment required. That’s why the developer realized that gutters really aren’t needed here. It does save money, but that’s not the main reason.

Money $$$

And the whole time I thought it had to do with the houses' construction. Wood frame homes require rain gutters. Concrete homes, block or otherwise, do not. I really don't know where that idea came from.

I live in a neighborhood of only courtyard villas and the only ones with gutters are the ones, like myself, who had them installed later.

Not sure about people's advice to not install gutters. I have some areas that leak (I've tried caulking them and still dripping in gap between the gutter and the house in some places) and the loud clunking on window sills is quite annoying. I much prefer the places where the un-leaking gutters prevent this.

We installed a minimum of 24" of stone or hardscape all around the house. Had the gutters and downspouts removed. In eight years, no problems.
I agree with Bill14564. Gutters are a continuing maintenance problem. Why do so many companies heavily advertise "leaf filters"? Downspouts are unsightly.

We live in a courtyard villa area and chose to install gutters, not a big expense, less than $800 and keeps our landscaping from flooding. Our immediate neighbors chose not to and THEIR runoff caused the mulch in their property to wash onto our side yard concrete. The water ultimately goes back to their yard and we replaced the mulch with stone to prevent the mess but at an expense.

Our 2022 veranda home came with them across the front of the house. We added them to the rest of the house because we didn’t like having huge waterfalls coming off of our roof in several places during the almost daily summer thunderstorms. But then our home came with many things today’s new homes no longer have, like screens on lanais, ceiling fans, window blinds, etc.

It’s not the builder who is saving money…..do you really think the builder would add gutters and fans (many remove for different options) or screens (we removed, then repaired stucco) For Free?

We only added super gutters for birdcage, with rock surrounding the rest of the house.

Those products are rolled into the end cost of the home. For some on a budget saving $5,000 plus is a big deal.
Within 6 months in each of our 3 new neighborhoods, Fans, Light Fixtures, Screens removed, unwanted landscaping has always been the norm. One of our homes didn’t come with a garage door opener. We saved $400 installed better model.

Until we bought in TV we always built our homes subcontracting ourselves. Builders grade, is a waste of money if you can delete and purchase aftermarket. We had the option on this build to purchase our own Appliances, saving money for better products.

They don't install gutters on all courtyard viilas, but they do on many of them. I don't know what criteria they use.

Yep

To stop the gutters from getting clogged with leaves. They work well if you do proper research on the style needed for the type of leaves / debris most likely to get into the gutters.

The last home I owned with gutters, I had them installed. Leaves washed right over them and almost all the water went into the gutter. Never had to clean the gutters again.

Yes for price for house. :wave:

Due to close proximity of houses, drain system out back, and slightly slopped in front. Get water down to ground quicker so it can get drain quicker which IMO reduces possible flooding if everything works right. Otherwise water off houses would be landing on nearly flat concrete/ rocks which slow travel down compared to coming down in concentration area.

Gutters/downspouts are not really needed unless you are looking to protect areas like entryways. Water flowing off roofs evenly onto the grass along its entirety will not create flooded out areas where a torrent comes out of a downspout. Since there are no basements, there is less need to move water away from a foundation like we did up north. Many people install gutters/downspouts (I believe) as they always had them up north.

no they do not install on CYVs been here since 2006

Not true. My courtyard villa section was constructed in 2015, and all of the villas have gutters. I also think that most of the courtyard villas between Rt. 466A and Rt 44 have gutters.

Cost cutting.

Gutters weren’t on our new house built in 2005. SOP.

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Gutters
 

Consider that it cost us $900 to install gutters on our patio villa. Perhaps TV would add $5000 to your price if gutters were included in your purchase.Sounds good to me.

I much prefer stone flower beds that cushion the water falling from the roof and protect from errosion.
Gutters require constant maintenance, and can damage the house. I only have gutters over the entryway for the convenience of my guests.

BASED ON SCIENCE. It’s based on the theory of the water from torrential rains being dispersed along a vast larger expanse onto the ground where it can be absorbed adequately verses funneling much larger amounts by concentrating into 3 or so exit points down spouts where there is so much water it cause potential flooding from over concentrating into a much smaller area and runs off ( if lucky) rather than absorbing it. Our sandy soil allows for no gutters.