How To Build A Yankee Gutter

Wood was used as an external element to construct the shell for the gutters while sheets of metal were used to line the interior.

How to build a yankee gutter.

Request your free estimate today. Yankee gutters go back to the 18 th century. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva installs an alternative to a gutter when a traditional one does not work. Wood box gutters were the premiere gutter design for the drainage of rain water from roofs in the united states from 1890 to 1925 and can still be found on houses today.

Subscribe to this old house. But that step was just extra insurance. These gutters are built on the plane of the roof. There are occasions where water damage occurs and the whole gutter needs to be re built.

Yankee gutters are a drainage system inconspicuously built into the roof so that it isn t visible along the roofline of the house. House flipping brothers dave and rich show how to install gutters on a house. They are currently renovating a large lake house that required all new gutters. Also make sure the contractor you choose replaces any dry or rotted wood inside the yankee gutter.

Yankee gutters can be very simple or ornate. I always try to encourage preserving original elements even though it might be easier to eliminate the old method for something new and inexpensive. Hire a local contractor you can trust with your yankee gutter repairs. Yankee gutters are also referred to as philadelphia gutters pole gutters flush gutters and standing gutters.

Each penetration through the copper eaves flashing was sealed by applying a blob of 50 year caulk on the under side of the board or bracket where the screw would penetrate. Sheets of metal were used to line the interior of yankee gutters. Built in gutters the unseen roof drainage system was specifically chosen to be installed when the home was built thus is part of the original historic character. Set in a bed of caulk the yankee gutter board was set onto and screwed through the copper into the roof deck.

Dating back to the 18th century yankee gutters consist of a v or u shaped wooden trough lined with metal usually copper or terne coated steel that directs water away from the house. Box gutters are actually built off of the rafters of the building they are not hung from the building as metal gutters are.