(a) Roofs, gutters, and downspouts affect your building's appearance. In addition, a well-maintained roof and drainage system can preserve your downtown building and prevent interior moisture problems. Preventive maintenance can not only preserve original design features, but can also avoid potentially costly replacements.
Routine inspections and gutter cleaning are essential to the building's continuing structural integrity. Remove leaves, branches, and debris from gutters regularly. If screens are installed on the gutters, clean off the screens. When it rains, watch to see if the downspouts are clear. Once they are plugged up, they may freeze and burst.
Also, inspect the gutter and downspout support brackets to be sure they are secure. When downspout support brackets become loose, refasten them in the mortar joints, instead of on brick or stone surfaces. Refasten the gutter support straps under roofing materials, and not on the roof surface. If necessary, keep these brackets painted to avoid rust-stained walls and foundations.
(b) Recommendations for Roofs, Gutters and Downspouts.
(1) In repairing roofs, new work should match the original in materials, texture, and color. If it is necessary to remove an original roof, the basic roof shape should not be altered. New roofing should match the color, size, and texture of the original roofing material.
(2) Where gutters and downspouts need replacement, care should be taken to match the original in material, type, and detail. Try to make necessary new guttering as inconspicuous as possible by painting it a neutral or background color.
(3) Retaining and repairing box and stop gutters, or box gutters built into the cornice is recommended. These are important design elements. To repair leaky box or stop gutters, reline them with rolled membrane roofing.
(4) Flashing around chimneys and at parapets should be done in a manner that is generally inconspicuous. Copper flashing left to weather naturally, or tin sheet metal and metal roofing material painted a flat, neutral color are recommended.
(Ord. 96-115. Passed 8-26-96.)
 |