Water Running Over the Top of the Eaves

I recently did an eavestrough diagnosis, cleaning and repair.  Stephen C. had a problem with water running over the top of his eaves and onto the garden near the house.  Excess water shouldn't be allowed near the house wall, as it might leak into the basement.  It could cause slippery ice on the ground in the winter (unauthorized skating rink!) .  

 

He said the problems started when the roofers put new shingles on the house.   Ahaaa!!     I checked, and found that the aluminum sheet in the valley (low spot where two angles of roof come together) projected too far over the eavestrough.  There was only a 1"  gap for the water to get into the trough.   If it was a heavy rain, the water would be going too quickly, and have too much volume, to get a chance to get into the small gap.  Since water is lazy, and takes the path of least resistance, like some humans do, it chose to go over the top.   I cut back the excess sheet metal with snips, and then banged it down a bit more, with a more rounded profile, with a hammer.  I pushed some excessive overlap shingles downward, so that they sloped better into the trough.  The gap is now more like 4" wide.  I checked the

angle of roof to the top of eaves, and it seemed ok.   If the eavestrough was too low compared to the roof, the water might again run over the top.   

 

In an extreme case, like at David R.'s house, the eaves were clean, but the roof was very wide, meaning a large volume of water, and the eaves were too low.  I had a water dam made by an aluminum contractor with a  folding machine.  I screwed the sections in on top of the trough, and they looked gorgeous.  No more overflow problem for David.  One stipulation is to never allow a contractor to put a ladder up against the dam, as the dam will get deformed/bent, and will never look the same unless that section is replaced.  Go up on the ladder in a different spot.  The colours match gorgeously.

 

Aarre