OT: This morning in Southern SC

[jmcquown]

It rained a lot yesterday and got cold enough to freeze last night. I
spotted this at the back corner of the house this morning:

https://i.postimg.cc/GmHZK5rN/icicle.jpg

Right next to it is this:

https://i.postimg.cc/Gh0QVgkV/blooms.jpg

Quite the juxtaposition. :)

Jill

[penm...@aol.com]

On Wed, 6 Mar 2019 09:33:08 -0500, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

What happened to the downspout?

[Ed Pawlowski]

i didn't think you got that cold. It was in the 40's here, in the teens
where we used to live.

[jmcquown]

There never was a downspout. I know what you're thinking of but that's
not the way gutters are built down here. It's the type of soil the
house sits on. Sandy.

There are drain chains at the front of the house off the gutters. The
reason there isn't one back there is that's where all the underground
electrical cables are buried. No chains directing the water directly
into the ground. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about.
Look up gutters and drain chains. :)

No downspout because it would direct the rainwater in one direction to
one spot and create squishy puddles. As it is, the soil naturally
drains the water. It doesn't get overrsaturated in one spot. You'd
have to know the soil on this island to get what I'm talking about.

Jill

[jmcquown]

It's rare, Ed. Things froze overnight. If the rain hadn't moved out we
might have seen some snow. It's bright and sunny here now but still
only supposed to get to 50F today. Predicted to be 80° on Saturday. Go
figure.

Jill

[A Moose in Love]

wenns arschul brummpt ist das herzel g'sund.
words of wisdom sheldon.

[penm...@aol.com]

On Wed, 6 Mar 2019 11:34:12 -0500, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

I'd think a stream of water falling from roof height would cause
erosion, probably make a large depression in sand. Living on Long
Island for years I know about sand, water seeps right through
immediately but still during heavy rains erosion was horrific.
Everyone has downspouts... if you say you don't need downspouts then
why do you need gutters? A lot of people here don't have downspouts
or gutters, they have all rocks and large gravel where the water runs
off the roof, the soil has washed away. I don't have gutters on my
barn, soil has washed away from the perimeter and all that remains are
the rocks.... soil here is very rocky, that's why there are so many
rock walls.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Why have gutters at all, then? Is there something on the ground
beneath the drop to prevent erosion?

Cindy Hamilton

[jmcquown]

Long Island is not Saint Helena or Dataw or any of these sea islands.

> Everyone has downspouts... if you say you don't need downspouts then
> why do you need gutters?

Don't ask me, I didn't built the house. All the houses around here have
gutters and/or rain chains.

A lot of people here don't have downspouts
> or gutters, they have all rocks and large gravel where the water runs
> off the roof, the soil has washed away.

Uh huh.

> I don't have gutters on my
> barn, soil has washed away from the perimeter and all that remains are
> the rocks.... soil here is very rocky, that's why there are so many
> rock walls.
>

Yeah, but we weren't talking about your barn or your rocky soil. I live
on an island. Oyster shells get churned up occasionally when it rains.
No rocks or gravel. It's sandy soil. It absorbs the water very
quickly. It's an island that doesn't tend to flood even during a
hurricane. Natural drainage.

Jill

[jmcquown]

Why gutters? I don't know. My parents built the house, it has gutters.
<shrug> All the homes in the neighborhood have gutters. Likely it
would cost more money to pull them out and do something to seal the roof
where they are attached than to just have them cleaned once a year. No
biggie.

The ground underneath the gutter isn't eroding or getting washed away.
The sandy soil absorbs the water very quickly.

Jill

[Cindy Hamilton]

Ok. I've lived on sandy soil before, but nothing like that. I'm having
trouble picturing soil so thirsty that a frog-throttling rain doesn't
wash it away.

Cindy Hamilton

[jmcquown]

Sorry, I can't explain it. Perhaps a geologist could but I'm not one.

Jill

[Ed Pawlowski]

On 3/8/2019 2:12 PM, Pamela wrote:

> Aren't gutters used to stop the walls getting damp from rainwater from the
> roof?
>
Gutters, combined with downspouts, direct the water away from the
foundation. Very important with a basement so you don't get water
coming in through the underground walls. They can also stop soil
erosion around the perimeter also.

[Dave Smith]

On 2019-03-08 2:12 p.m., Pamela wrote:
> On 18:01 6 Mar 2019, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>

> Aren't gutters used to stop the walls getting damp from rainwater from the
> roof?
>

No. The are there to guide to the down spout which, in turn, has an
elbow and a pipe to direct the water away from the house, away from the
footings and/or basement.

[darr...@aol.com]

Someone has never been to LI, let alone The Hamptons!? LOL!

[Sheldon]

I lived on the east end of LI (north fork) for many years, it's
nothing but sand, fairly fine beach sand. I had down spouts that
connected to 4" perforated PVC that ran 10" from the house foundation
just below ground... I have the same here upstate. In fact I had new
5" gutters and down spouts installed last summer to replace the old 3
1/2" ones. This house has a huge roof so during heavy rains the water
collected was too much and overflowed those tiny gutters, the larger
gutters and larger down spouts solved that problem. Also with the
larger gutters and down spouts any debris washes right out, no more
having to climb a ladder to clean blockages.