Everyone Says It's A Mistake! (Finishing Up The Big 60'X120' Pole Barn)

[@gregkneubuhler5798]

I could not be more pleased. It looks fabulous and turned out great.

[@Anders_HeymSR30]

I respect your choice but would personally consider gutters a vital construction part that ensures the integrity of the building medium and long term for a very justifiable expense.

[@digdrivediy]

I respect that choice just as much. I wouldn't remove the gutters from my house because of the poor drainage options so your advice is certainly justified in my mind. Thanks for watching!

[@handyandy5929]

I agree. It l lets you capture rain water to use for irrigation or grey water if you desire. It also prevents long term splatter damage from rain drops.

[@centexan]

Gutters depend on a lot of things. I think they are way over rated. To me, the top two considerations are the amount of rain you get and the drainage on your lot. Also my house has too many trees that shed leaves like crazy. I took my gutters off three years ago and haven't regretted it at all.

[@allensandven0]

In heavy snow & ice zones gutters can get ripped off especially if you have a heat source that causes melt or sheet ice to overhang

[@thedelcodave]

I like the look of the stone around the building and will make for less week eating. Curious tho cost wise what gutters on a building that size would run vs the stone drain tile setup.

[@ericlanglois1342]

What would the cost of gutters be vs the stone? Everything looks great, neat and buttoned up as the work has just been completed. But long term, what would that look like?

[@digdrivediy]

We think gutters would be about $4000 more than what we have in the stone.

[@curtismcnabb8119]

I have a house with an 8/12 pitch roof. My overhang is around 24" with 6" gutters. A good shower will fill my gutters to the point of overflowing. I live on a hill and have a French drain. What are some of your thoughts about removing my gutters?

[@digdrivediy]

If the water all slopes away from your house or the soil is well drained then I think you can get away without having gutters.

[@jemdicken6022]

Gutters every time, wouldn't be able to deal with all that splash back on the cladding. Get the water away as quick as you can, unless you don't have much rain where you are.

[@dielawn212]

Gutters, always! You can probably get away with it for a few years, maybe a decade. But gutters make a difference once you get into the multi decade longevity of soil stability and drainage. Previous owners of our house thought the same. But 18 years after the build we are fixing a few of the issues caused by no gutters. Issues that have indeed affected the foundation. We likely have different soil types, to be fair. Minor cost in the long term, a bit like oil changes.

[@digdrivediy]

Great insight so thanks for the thoughts on it. I should have included more discussion on how soil type plays a factor for us. Our heavy clay soils are not very permeable and can make a great barrier to moisture, the same way a pond holds water. If you have more sandy soil that will absorb water more easily then letting it run off, then this is likely not a very good option.

[@charliebongiorno8120]

@@digdrivediy if the top of the foundation was 16 inches above the ground level all drainage problems would have been solved. Only have to follow government building code. But no, escavaters want big money for their work done with heavy machinery and then cut corners to make money not deserved..

[@stoneylake4]

In my area, scheduling an excavation crew to do this work I would ballpark at about $7,500. The extra #2 stones would be about $1,800 ish. So after drain tile and my time into it- I could call gutter pro and have gutters w leave covers installed here for about $2500.

[@leetravis7702]

That looks great! Didn’t all that stone cost more than gutters? I don’t see many trees around for leaves to get into the gutters and cause issues.

[@digdrivediy]

Great question! The total cost on the stone was about $300.

[@unclealansyard5176]

@@digdrivediy to me that seems like a very good price!

[@garryrichardson4572]

The height of the barn prohibits the ability to clean the gutters. Good call . Also sick of cleaning gutters and bird’s nesting in down pipes.

[@HabitualButtonPusher]

With us, we always use gutters since we use a rain catchment cistern. We just wrapped the gutter in a tough white nylon screen and we’ve never had an issue. Having all that extra water just seems like a good investment for us for when that someday comes.

[@Amber-mv8wz]

Getting water away & keeping it away from the slab or the foundation is all that matters. How you choose to do that is up to you. Personally, I don't like the look of gutters on most buildings & I hate cleaning them even more so over the years I've become a self-taught expert on designing good drainage around our buildings. Over 30 years on this farm now with zero ground water related issues on any building.

[@TheBelrick]

My two story house gutters are a constant drain of money . Constantly blocked by our wind shelter belt

[@Andyrob323]

Anything with a basement underground should have gutters, in my opinion. For a building like this, I don’t see too much of a reason why the way you did it wouldn’t work. It also dresses up post and beam buildings. For my house, I’m doing both. I have form-a-drain around my footer, the house has gutters, and I have French drain around 3 sides of the foundation. It’s all an effort to never have to deal with a flooded basement!

[@gary24752]

You should put filter fabric around the stone that the pipe was buried in. Looks like a lot of clay sediment in your existing line. If you are in snow country gutters would be a major pain. Perimeter drainage is a better option but you have got to have some place to run it though. With all that stone you could have used it as a drainage field for the runoff to give it time to percolate. Nice crop of corn

[@michaellewis876]

All Buildings Require Uniform Loading Or Bearing Pressure of the Structural Members Eg Posts. To minimise the Chance of Collapse or Racking of the Building. Buildings can get Sucked out of the Ground by ground Wettness or Dampness of one area or one section. Footings have less Skin Friction to Resist uplift Pressures. High pressure outside Low pressure internal. Uniform Dampness. Yes it's a Metal Building However Dark Damp area's are perfect to breed Termites sub nests form From their they strike out to eat Houses, Kitchens, Laudary's cupboards, Store Rooms, Offices & skirting etc A Building with has 4 sides enclosed It Cops a lot of sideways wind load & Roofing Loads. Proper Water Management is a vital part of any Construction Or House.

[@troyweyerstrass7312]

Great video Neil! I’m a gutter guy being a home builder from WI. IMO…the most important part was that you drained the gravel ditch to the drain tile. Without that, I’m afraid all that would have happened was a moat inside the gravel. ie French drains without the tile. I’m not against it… just another perspective. Have a great Sunday! Thanks for sharing 😊

[@digdrivediy]

Wonderful perspective Troy. Thanks so much for the thoughts on it!

[@firedtradesman]

Yep, that's how I do 'em. Makes it easier to maintain the yard around the building too. Just make a pass with a sprayer full of glyphosate a few times a year. Lookin' good!

[@outfitr9703]

Water splashing on the rock will discolor the metal siding in time. I like the rock border AND gutters.

[@digdrivediy]

So far on my red barn that you see in the video it has been 10 years and there is no visible discoloration of the siding. The stone becomes surprisingly inert once it gets good and washed off.

[@TheHobbyShop1]

I’ve had buildings both ways. Never had an issue on water damage on either one. The gutter cleaning was a hassle for sure. I had a ton of trees surrounding that barn though. It really comes down to preference and the slope away from the building. Nice work. It turned out great and should work awesome. 👍🏼

[@CH-oz3li]

Just in time! I am working on a building with no gutters also. My thought is to place plastic or non permeable weed barrier under the gravel slopping away from the building 5 feet or so. Thoughts on this idea?

[@digdrivediy]

I think that's a great idea! 👍🏻

[@zack9912000]

To each their own, you should have gutters, without proper drainage the water will freeze in the winter damaging your foundation. Gutters are a pain but cheaper then major foundation repair. Seen a lot of these barns with no gutters have major issues with soil erosion

[@NoName-ml5yk]

He doesn't have a foundation.

[@lkurowic]

I don't see coments here about soil type. My house has no gutters because snow load would tear them down and build up ice, in addition we are in sand. I put a positive slope with rocks, done deal. However clay is a different story. Water will take the easy path, clay is not easy. Water will flow on top of clay until it finds lighter soil. So this video did it right

[@digdrivediy]

Appreciate that! Compacted clay all the way around this one.

[@lukeabendroth8157]

I have gutters but they are mainly for keeping melting snow from making slick ice on the driveway since my garage doors are under the eves. The stone around the pole barn really makes it look sharp.

[@buildlife]

I own a roofing company in Illinois and we run 3 gutter trucks. I didn't put any on my the back of my barn. Leaves are a pain and snow keeps wiping them out. I tell customers to pick their poison. Water, snow, ice, leaves, What problem do you fear the most?

[@digdrivediy]

I appreciate hearing this very much. Thanks BL!

[@franksmith3602]

Building looks nice. When you get your master degree in engineering. The book. The three little pigs. Your tested on. Now think what little pig always used gutters. Yes, the pig who's houses last and lasts. Hahaha, there dozens of reason for gutters. And each reason has a engineering back why. In the 70s, I had 40.000 square acres under plow... I would set up rain catch tanks. 2000 gallons. And build a , equipment car wash. High pressure ( free water ), solar, pump, you seem very OCD. ( hey,....that row of corn is off by 3 " who the hell did that. Haha). Injoy..

[@utubota5522]

Neil, I have tried this non-gutter approach before. It worked exactly as you described. The only down side was that rain water would splash off of the stone and onto the building. With any dust or dirt present, that left an unsightly dirt residue up the bottom 18" of the building. Hope that doesn't happen for you.

[@digdrivediy]

Thanks Sir and I'm glad to hear it. So far with this type of stone, both mine and my brother's building are free of splash. This rock doesn't have any of the fine powder in it so once it gets that initial washing it should clean up and I think the barn will look nice and hopefully stay nice.

[@frankyeoman1370]

A cheap tin building, in a low rainfall area. This might be considered acceptable, by some. A stone, brick, or timber building, in an area of high winter rainfall, would have accumulated wind blown rain, saturating the walls. This would be disastrous for the fabric of these types of building. Spend all that time and expense, digging and laying drains, surely rones would have been easier and cheaper ?

[@JodyFrancisWall]

I don't know that there's a cost saving. There's a bit of labour and machinery higher in constructing the drains. Add to that gravel and timber framing, and my guess it's a wash financially. Timewise, I'm not sure it's faster either.

[@michaeljoncour4903]

i don't have gutters on my house or shed, 2 to 3 ft overhang ,cement floor and posts may last hundreds of years. i have always found ridge capping a pain in the butt, so when i renovated and did someroofing i decided to eliminate ridge capping ,i extented roofing iron about 8 '' past centre line,on the other side i pushed the roof sheets hard up under the overhanging the fit is very good, i did this about 3 yrs ago , not a drip.. if you had a steep pitch it would be relatively easy to run a bead of silicone along meeting point . i will do a test for my own curiousity. we get a 1.5 litres a minute pumping up from creek so don't gutters. actually is 12 ft of guttering on 90ft shed in to a 1,000 gal tank as 5 day backup if pump in creek needs repair .ps concrete in shed is 1 1/2'' thick with chicken wire in it , its all you need if you arent driving heavy over it...

[@CaptainKleeman]

I saw a barn without gutters, well I didn't see it, but a guy who I talked to said he had seen it on an online forum, Tornado took out the whole barn. Gutters would have prevented that.

[@digdrivediy]

Haha! The natural predator to the pole barn is the tornado. Sometimes they will just kill them for fun though and only eat the roof.

[@TransNeingerian]

The amount of water a roof like that could collect would pay for the water harvesting systems in probably one rainy season. Its objectively a better decision to put even mote than gutters on it. You just dont have the money right now, or are ignorant of the investment.

[@FoxfireProjects]

In my area, I would go with gutters. You know your area and what works best. Turned out great! Thanks so much for taking the extra time to bring us a long. Stay safe!

[@dviate3242]

Gutters depend on where you live. In Oz in the tropics you control water on the ground and force it away. In drier areas you catch and store in tanks etc. In many areas now all new properties must have rainwater tanks usually connected to washing machines and toilets and for garden use to conserve water.

[@stevenm3141]

I can say, gutters are a good accent to some houses and so on. Just not an absolutely necessary item if you worked to figure drainage on the ground. I say this after spending time owning an apartment building in the worst winter weather. Where the gutters fill with water and freeze almost instantly, then fall off the building from shear weight. And thru a hurricane storm where they are pulled off from the wind! Winter happens every six months and hurricanes happen now and again. Proper drainage on the ground is the key!

[@timkirkpatrick9155]

If you put graded drainage and stone around the foundation you should be good. If not graded and drained gutters won't solve the problem just delay the pain of not grading and draining the perimeter. The 'drainage ' you showed is half assed and will not deal with snow melt or serious rain volume! I am sorry to be so blunt but at 67 I have seen too many fail done that way. your trough is too close and too small. The mud during construction proves it.

[@Joseph-vj2ph]

Gutters on my shop are full of leaves and plug. Then water backs up and makes its way into shop. Not saying gutters are bad but can be more maintenance if you have trees nearby.

[@michaeljoncour4903]

wild horses couldn't make me put wooden posts in to the ground, i sit on a chair and ''dig'' the holes with a pressure cleaner , making them wider at the base, wrap chicken wire around base of post , fill hole with cement., and about a foot up the post.. another good method is to wrap bamboo with chicken wire and ferro cement you end up with a product very strong, no rust,no rot ,no termites, also you can colour the cement..

[@timbarr304]

Don’t have gutters on my 42x88 shop did same thing you did! Nice work!

[@johnspindler9732]

My Paul building does not have gutters in my house in West Virginia it will not have gutters you don’t need them if it’s graded right you’re 100% right a lot less hassle

[@gerryricker7812]

I Love the the size of this building but I think that I would have put a while beside it and I think that I would have had each cross on the building to collect water because as We Know in some parts of the states you do not get a lot of water so even if you had a couple Wells on one on either side to let them fill up because also use the water to sell to other Farmers that might need it and that I do like what you did but I still think I should have been eat Ross to catch the Rainwater that's just my opinion ☝️👋👋👋

[@leol1682]

Like the video Neil Keep thems comming .

[@kevinmeyer8068]

I think this system will work great. Only question i have i the width of the stone bed. Seems to me on a good rain fall the water might come off the roof and overshot the stone and land on the grass. Maybe that is what you are looking for. With light rain fall this seems like the water would fall into the stone bed great. With something like this system would you go a few rainstorms to see how far the rain flys off the roof before starting? Not sure what area this is in. Above the side door was snow guards installed on the roof so it breaks up the snow as it slides down the roof. Overall i think it is a great job and would probably do the same.

[@nathanwotwot]

I'm a fan of what you did. Where I live (western Australia) our houses generally have gutters but once you get into the northern parts of the state the rain overwhelms them, so they don't bother. Both work well but I like the simplicity of no gutters.

[@johnblack2193]

I am planning to put guttlers on my pole barn (40' X 120')in order to collect rain water.

[@wadestreet6486]

I have a similar building, with French drain and rock, I added rain gutters, lots better!

[@redneckgoatfarmer]

I’m doing no gutters. Continuous concrete apron around the whole house. And the house is slab no basement

[@cpaoutdoors9926]

Gutters are a waste of money any where freeze thaw occurs if the the gutters is froze on days it the snow and ice melt it backs up and re freezes and ice freezing has tremendous force if it can buckle a foundation. It can destroy alot

[@super70seven]

We don’t have gutters on ours here in mid Michigan. We have gravel, similar to yours.

[@daddygoat]

Alternative to gutters! You're crazy. I'm call my union rep. .

[@shanesherwood343]

I think the question of gutters falls on what type of wether you have here in upstate New York gutters are must we can get some ice cycle issues with out them other parts of the country may not have that

[@TinMan0555]

The look of the finished job is very clean. But y’all could had that same “look” with gutters installed and a simple rock/stone apron, no digging and plumbing involved. With zero trees around that building, I fail to see any “maintenance issues” to having gutters. And, after seeing all the man-hours in your solution, I would wonder how your time, fuel, equipment usage and materials compare to the cost of having gutters installed. But, long as you can maintain proper drainage (to take the water away) along with a very durable landing zone for the falling water (moving water is a formidable force) gutters are not required. Having said that, come see me in 10 years and we will talk about how well y’all have maintained that landing zone and drainage system. 😐

[@digdrivediy]

If you notice the red building in this video with the rock around it, that is my building. Been that way for 11 years and that is how it looks after 11 years. Really with the clay soil underneath and the large aggregate stone on top, it doesn't grow many weeds. We spray it once a year and it holds up really nicely with very little maintenance.

[@terrybrown8292]

Another PRICE HIKE NO NOT N THIS DAY N AGE ISNT STUPID GREAT SO GREAT OOPS DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD LOOKING GOOD GUYS KEEP UP THE GREAT VIDEOS

[@RCPSU4]

I almost thought gutters with a downspout and an outlet straight to the field would be a good drainage solution.

[@GarageGeek]

I am doing both on my property, pine trees overhang the gutters and no matter how often they are cleaned a strong rainstorm overwhelms them, so I am installing drain rock under them to channel that water away from the residence.

[@PurpleCollarLife]

Excellent work, Neil! I totally agree that it really enhances the look of the area around the building. We do not have gutters on our 40x60 pole building. We do have significant grade away from it in all directions though. The biggest thing annoyance I've found about not having gutters (so far) is that the rain splatter makes a mess of the darker bottom of our building. I do spray it off from time to time - but it's a never-ending battle. The good news is that we did put shale about 10' out the entire way around our building (with the grade downward), so the water drains away easily, and the splatter on the building isn't as bad is if it were topsoil. Good video!

[@digdrivediy]

Thanks Chad!

[@yeaho7935]

You people shouldn't even know what name you can pay your water bill

[@danlindeke2561]

There are extensions[not gutters] that take stream of water and break it up to more like rain.

[@cpaoutdoors9926]

and I guess no water gets around the the gable ends of the building so why worry about gutters

[@blackdogexcavator21]

I know sometimes gutters are a pain but, our soil here doesn't lend itself to good drainage. Most times I don't have a choice but to try and duct the water away from the structure. It really depends on the soil conditions where I'm working and also, which side of the structure the doors are on. The doors on my workshop are on the eave side of the building so unless I want to walk through a waterfall going in and out, I have to install gutters on mine. The shed y'all built is really nice.

[@digdrivediy]

Makes sense. Especially over the doors! Thanks BD

[@terryrose2771]

Gutters / No Gutters & French Drain?......The most important thing you failed on is getting the water away from the structure............Gutters with downspouts and 4" drainage pipe to take the excess water 20-30 ft away is what you want......likewise the French drain your creating next to the structure should also have piping to move it away from the structure......And Why you ask? Cause standing water in the vicinity of dry dirt will always wick to the dry........

[@digdrivediy]

We did drain the French drain with 4" pipe... And all the water flows away with the surface grade. The building is 14" higher than the surrounding elevation...

[@digitalabyss8564]

Gutters or not, you're gunna have to pay some kid to pull the weeds out of the rock around the building. It would appear that the drainage capacity is limited to handle a precipitation event of up to two hours of 1/64" to 1/16" per hour over the surface area of the pole barn. For reference, the roof area of the pole barn exceeds 7,200ft^2, and at 1/16"/hr of precipitation that's over 300ft^3 of water that will be draining into the rock around the pole barn. After two hours, you're looking at upwards of 600ft^3 (4480 gallons) of stormwater drainage. It's hard to guestimate the pour spacing in the rock, but it is likely between 10-20% available space in the rock around the building. That leaves us with a design capacity of between 140-280ft^3 of water storage capacity. As I don't recall hearing the location of the pole barn, I can't look up the soil conservation service data for the region, and extrapolate the hydraulic conductivity of the soil, to me it looked mostly clay. From a hydrologist perspective, the system has a design capacity capable of handling a light drizzle for two hours. If you got a good downpour for a day or two, the soil under the barn would become saturated.

[@digdrivediy]

This is a very interesting and well spoken comment. I appreciate your expertise. The location is Northeast Indiana. We built the building pad out of clay material excavated from a hole of a depth of 10 to 12 ft. The pad was overbuilt in about 3 ft in all directions. The area that we cut out and put in the stone aggregate was on this clay pad overbuild. It would be the same thing used to construct a pond. I'm not sure how that factors into the equation but it is very difficult to get water to permeate through the clay even when you're trying. My thoughts are if the water level exceeds the holding capacity of the fieldstone aggregate, it will simply run out onto the grass and drain into the area around the building rather than trying to seep in underneath it. Does that make sense?

[@robv4053]

So... As a ground engineer, this is bad advise if taken universally. In certain soils, can work fine. In others, the infiltration will be a disaster! I have no idea where you are, but here in PA, 1-1/2" clean crushed runs at around $85/CY or $46/ton placed. That cobble size you're moving, more. There's no savings compared to K gutter for less money. The building you're working on has nothing overhead requiring gutter maintenance, but I guarantee you that stone will have plenty of weeds out of it after a season in farm country, which is where I live. So you just moved your maintenance, and that will be a much greater chore. On my 3400SF pole barn, I have fabricated gutters. They're integral and appear as standard fascia. Done so because they withstand snow wedges and ice dams. Commercial downspouts with debris filters/ejectors, and piped to underground infiltration basin. Zero maintaince, invisible. All that said, in plenty of locations now, Code requires collection and controlled infiltration of roof water. My area is one, and I'm also sitting in a karst so one really has to be careful where water is directed.

[@digdrivediy]

I really appreciate your input. The gutter system that you explained sounds very interesting and well thought out. I would like to know more or see it and how it works. To answer a few of your questions though, we have very heavy clay soil around here. We built this building pad out of clay that was excavated from a borrow hole of a depth of 10 to 20 ft deep. The clay was compacted into place and overbuilt of the size of the building by about 3 ft in all directions. The area that was excavated for the stone that you see around the perimeter was on this compacted clay. It slopes away from the elevation of the floor by 10 to 16 in. We used 22 ton of number two limestone for a total cost of about $300. Despite not seeing any trees, the only risk of clogging the gutters is the nearby grain handling system. Grain systems produce a lot of beeswings or corn hulls. They become airborne and will drift just like snow. The gutters of the building upwind of this building gets the corn hulls all in the gutters and it creates a gooey substance. So there is a bit of maintenance from that side of things. But I do appreciate your perspective and your expertise. Thanks so much for watching the video and I hope that no one ever takes my advice universally! Lol

[@123456789qwerthy]

water make ground sink...cuz the dirt wash away with water...years goes by...concrete will crack cuz losing dirt and floor will off level ...water is 1st house ( fundation) nightmare...

[@digdrivediy]

In some situations I'm sure that is true.

[@garyc4983]

Looks nice but I would have to clean the dirt splash from the building before i could say it's complete.............

[@digdrivediy]

So true!!!

[@chrisgentry7195]

I can't see why this wouldn't work, but I worked on a gutter crew about 20 years ago. I'm sure it is the same now, but we could pull up to your building, spend about 2 hours putting gutters and downspouts up and no later than 4 hours later be leaving. They are expensive, and even more so if you get the gutterguard to reduce maintenance, but would 100% work. I think this method is an alternative, but by leaving the trench and not putting field tile in it all the way around the building, your water drainage is going to become worse over time. By not putting a water barrier under the rock it still allows water to get to your foundation and if it turns cold quickly to freeze and possible damage the slab. And lastly after running the equipment, buying the rock, and paying the helpers at least a day of wages, it can't be much cheaper than gutters. So really it seems to be an appearance thing that might not work 100% of the time. Which I agree it looks better than gutters. But if you are like most of the population, things like gutters fade into the background noise of the environment and you really never 'see' them. I'm not saying that the majority of people are right all the time, but it's hard to ignore conventional wisdom.

[@digdrivediy]

Well said.

[@bobbydee1187]

Lack of gutters just cost me a loss of $125,000 on the sale of my home because I had foundation erosion. Caused from No gutters.

[@digdrivediy]

That's a bummer!

[@keithwalker7151]

Hey Neil, Do you have any videos showing how you made that smooth edge that clamps over the teeth on your backhoe bucket? I thought you did but I can't find it. Thanks for the great content!

[@digdrivediy]

Sorry I'm just seeing this Keith. I never made a video about that. I just welded a piece of flat steel to some old teeth that I had and I've never taken it off since.

[@JV-pu8kx]

The issue isn't just with the drainage. How are you mitigating the effects of splash? The water coming off the roof and splashing on the walls. Be careful of the materials used. We have a T11 sided building that is deteriorating from the splash.

[@digdrivediy]

It is a metal sided shed. The splash hasn't been an issue for my barn with this same setup for 11 years now. We'll see I guess.

[@unclealansyard5176]

First of all, great video and and works as intended. If this was me, I would have made the rock bed a little bit wider. Also, I would have dug and put in a shallow drain pipe and tied it in at the ends like you did in the video. As a extra precaution for unexpected heavy rains, I would have sloped the rock bed to the back and (like a dry rock river bed in landscaping) added a drainage box that tied into the drain tile. In case those heavy rains made the pipe fill up fast. But that's just me. There's no right or wrong way, just as long the end goal is reached without harm to the building.

[@jeffd4056]

Ditto

[@bobber55]

I like that idea (dry river bed) landscape. Which would also act as a retention pond during extra heavy rains.

[@unclealansyard5176]

@@bobber55 only thing is you don't want water standing near a building you want to keep moving to an area out of tree way the existing drain tile for the fields are a good way to divert into that system.

[@bobber55]

@@unclealansyard5176 exactly I wasn't meaning on having that swell close to the building. That dry River bed could easily run into an area such as the fields to keep it away from the building. And when the ground cannot take any more water and that dry River bed fills up it would still be that much more volume of water not near the building.

[@Ramdodge582]

Well if it code then yes it needs them. It's code here, any site with over 2k sq/ft of impervious surface needs a state certified engineer to design the system based on the sites soils. roof pitch, size and type very much come into play when designing the gutters, downspouts and infiltration type/sze.

[@digdrivediy]

No code here on gutters and I'm aware of.

[@johanhermans8210]

I would install gutters, and collect the Rain water to clean the machines. It Will cost money once and after that you Will have free cleaning water ,or to spray the garden . Greetings from johan in belgium

[@digdrivediy]

Hello Johan in Belgium! Thanks for the comment and clever ideas!

[@clintauderer398]

I have 4 such sheds. No gutters on any of them. Rock around them, grade away from the building and no problem.

[@digdrivediy]

Glad to hear it Clint! Thanks :)

[@sku32956]

Yea well it will under mine the footings it's just a matter of time 2 years maybe 10 ,if you go through a wet phase it will really gullet out along the building quick .

[@digdrivediy]

With our heavy clay it really won't undermine it as long as there is not direct soil contact from the rain water. My building has existed like this for 10 years and there has been no infiltration of water to the footing posts.

[@darrenblattner2508]

Sorry Neil, gutters, downspouts and tile away from the building. Water and moisture are not your friend unless its in a glass. Keep smilin

[@digdrivediy]

No need to be sorry! I get it👍🏻

[@GPOutdoors]

Morning Neil! Excellent video this morning with coffee. Thanks for sharing. I have no gutters on my cottage here - same debate occurred with the contractors when it was built. However, I didn't put the gravel around the building - great idea - thanks! Perhaps on the to do list. Have a nice weekend!

[@digdrivediy]

Hey great to hear from you Gord! Yeah, this seems to be a polarizing topic! But I am certainly glad to hear from folks that have had different approaches to solving the gutter/no gutter situation. Anyone that lives in a wooded setting certainly has an opinion! Thanks so much for tuning in and have a great weekend!

[@mkzenthusiasts]

How long has that drain tile that's ¼ full of silt been in the ground? Also, it may be draining now but in the future it's going to get packed full of silt and stop working

[@digdrivediy]

That drain has been in the ground for more than 30 years. A lot of times when that happens in a field tile it is from having a low spot in the tile that silts in over time. We see it all the time and it's not a big deal.

[@216000950]

Is that yellow corrugated tile from Baughman Tile Company in Paulding?

[@digdrivediy]

Probably so!

[@axe609]

Where I am with frost heaves and the growth of grass over time the ground rises up. So if you are similar then that will hold probably for a few to ten years, but either you you will have to fix the rock and grade or install gutters. Some places you can get away without.

[@digdrivediy]

So far my building has been like this over 10 years and it looks the same as when I installed it. We spray for weeds maybe once a year.

[@5stardave]

So much for rainwater collection. Think of all the rain you could collect from a pole barn and send to the drought stricken west.

[@digdrivediy]

I wish we could send water to the west. How would we do that though?

[@jeanvaljohn3921]

The common denominator that I see around western Illinois farmsteads is the same as your circumstance. RESOURCEFULNESS. People with the talent ,knowledge, skills, access to weedkiller, the tools, and equipment go without gutters. Those people without the aforementioned opt fore the gutters. It's close to 50 / 50 here.

[@NSResponder]

Collect the rainwater. It's useful.

[@casycasy5199]

came out great you really know how to run a tractor.with stone like that you dont need gutters

[@neilbrew8985]

Large gutters, large downspouts, and 6” drain pipe is the way to go

[@earldowney8211]

Two much mud in th pipe NA NA put up the gutter ??

[@matta3888]

Our block garage did not have gutters for a long time. The rain and water has caused problems.

[@digdrivediy]

I could see a black foundation not liking that.

[@tylerwilkins2096]

Great video Neil! Can’t wait for another one! Have you and the family done any camping trips? Also does the Ford dump truck have working AC ?

[@digdrivediy]

Thanks Tyler. We've only been on one camping trip so far this year unfortunately. And also unfortunately no AC in that Ford dump truck!

[@MichaelDillin]

Watched thumbs-uped. I noticed the siding splash on the side of the building. I like that gutters reduce that. No trees around no cleaning. 11 years on my pole building and gutters have always been clear (no leaves or debris to clean) and control where the water goes with downspouts into my tile.

[@FelonyVideos]

Everyone eventually learns that concrete foundations need water. It's a costly lesson every single time.

[@digdrivediy]

I'm not sure what you mean.

[@JAKE3914]

the real boss has some very nice legs!! ;o)

[@timgavin1642]

Looks good… I did the same around my shop

[@Georgiagreen317]

I have to agree. Gutters have their place but are not an absolute requirement as some believe. When we purchased our home in Florida, it had a lot of deteriorated plastic gutter. It was in poor shape obviously due to the heat and sun constantly beating on it. Most of Florida is sugar sand. Actually, it's all beach with weeds and grass covering it. I simply removed the gutter system and never did replace it. Ten years later, there was absolutely no sign of erosion anywhere around the home. When we sold it, the buyer, as most do, hired a knowologist home inspector who called out the lack of gutters on the home, and of course, the buyer negotiated a reduction of the selling price. Other than that, there were absolutely no harmful issues for us. The new owner never did install another gutter system.

[@nickoletsimpson1346]

Just curious as to why you did not put fabric down before putting the stones in, to prevent weed growth.

[@digdrivediy]

From my experience around here, the weeds are just as happy to grow on top of the weed barrier as they are from below it. I have never had much success with weed barrier as nature seems to find a work around some way or another. We used to put weed barrier underneath the rock that we put around the top of ponds. Over time there would still somehow be weeds growing up in it. A quick trip around the building once or twice a year with a hand pump sprayer will hopefully keep the weeds at bay.

[@randyclyde4939]

Thanks, Neil! Great video and interesting subject matter. I'm hooked on your channel. Love your explanations!

[@digdrivediy]

Thanks a lot Randy!

[@dougbrockman8982]

It looks like for the man. Power the equipment the trucks in the gravel. It would have been just as cheap to put gutters on it And gutter screens and downspouts. Ice will do damage in the winter that you wouldn't see for many years, but it is a big problem.

[@manganvbg90]

This is more usable om tin sided houses, wood siding is more sensitive to the splash when the runoff is hitting the ground

[@digdrivediy]

Very true. My building has been this way for 10 years and I can't tell any difference on anything around the bottom.

[@brucemitchell5637]

Very informative video Neil, a lot of people don’t realize just how fast a poor drainage system can completely destroy a building.

[@michaeljoncour4903]

AH , says a lot about the building !

[@brianswelding]

I have a 50 x 100 foot building just like this. We said the same thing when it was built 25 years ago. When it rains really hard, water comes in and puddles on the slab. Even with the grade and rocks around the perimeter. (This in in the Chicago area.) Still haven't installed gutters. 🤣🤣🤣

[@digdrivediy]

Well I'm hoping that isn't the case here. The concrete slab here would be about 10 to 16 in above grade compared to the area that's around the perimeter of the rock. We're thinking and hoping that the water should get away pretty easily actually.

[@brianswelding]

@@digdrivediy Yeah you should be fine. Like I said, my situation is after 25 years so there's been a lot of erosion over the years. I probably could have kept up with it better but, you know, priorities... Hope you get years of enjoyment out of your beautiful building! 🙏🙏🙏

[@bigjdirtandplay7930]

I never put gutters on my pole shed 5 years ago and im not looking back I put 48" of 2" rock about 6" thick and its hasn't moved yet. Thumbs up from me!

[@ryanminutello4931]

I really like this. The only thing I would have done is put fabric then stone then the pipe. Eventually the sediment is going to fill up the pipe or the clay will clog the slits in the pipe. Adding the fabric is cheap insurance so you don't have to come back in a few years.

[@chinov9445]

That corrugated perforated pipe is clogged half of it is full of mud 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@digdrivediy]

You see that very often in patterned field drainage tile. It happens when there is a slight "belly" in the tile where sediment can settle out. You might dig 20 feet in either direction and there won't be any sediment in the bottom of the tile. It will still work just fine and now the influx of extra water may help to flush it out! :)

[@jeepxj]

i'd be curious what that looks like with a heavy rain. the capacity of what you kicked into the drain tile seems so small compared to the roof area.

[@digdrivediy]

We plan that during a heavy rain it will probably overcome the little trench in the stone and just run out on top of the ground away from the building.

[@jeepxj]

@@digdrivediy I really just want you to be out there filming during a heavy rain. entertain us camera guy! genuinely curious on a heavy rain how much distance out the water sheeting gets. will it arch past the rock bed

[@digdrivediy]

@@jeepxj It will be interesting to see. I'll get the shot! :)

[@jeepxj]

@@digdrivediy earn those views! jk you're still a fantastic hidden gem channel that deserves a million subs