A roof valley is where two slopes meet, forming a V-shape. This is the house’s natural water slide. Rain gathers speed here like a kid on a slip ‘n slide. You absolutely need a gutter at the bottom of that valley.
If you skip a gutter here, all that concentrated water will carve a trench in your landscaping. Or worse, it pools against the foundation. It’s like having a fire hose pointing at your brickwork.
The Tricky Bits: Dormers and Chimneys
Dormers are those cute little windows popping out of your roof. They have their own mini-roofs. Every mini-roof needs a mini-gutter or a diverter. Otherwise, water dribbles down directly onto the main roof, turning a dormer into a water fountain.
The Homeowner’s Guide to Gutter Systems: What Actually Matters
Chimneys are different. You usually don’t put gutters on them. Instead, you install a cricket—a small, sloped structure behind the chimney. This diverts water around it, so it flows into the normal gutter system. Think of it as a polite bouncer redirecting the rain away from the VIP area.
