Making/buying window gutters?

[Puggy]

In a bit of today's Oregon rain, I noticed that rain runoff from the roof was just streaming right down over the windows - which leads to leaking as you can imagine.

I went out and looked, and realized there is no little gutter above the windows - which kind of explains it.

I'm guessing a perusal of the local Home Despot store would find me something C shaped and serviceable, but maybe not that strong. I could caulk and screw them on, but can see how that's not necessarily ideal, as eventually water probably would start seeping between the flashing and the sides of the bus.

Suggestions?

[Puggy]

Looking around, maybe something like this would do the trick...



The idea would be to back the heck out of it with some good butyl etc. sealant, and screw it into the side of the bus.

[Puggy]

Looking around, maybe something like this would do the trick...



The idea would be to back the heck out of it with some good butyl etc. sealant, and screw it into the side of the bus.

[Tango]

Given the area of a bus roof and the volume of water involved, maybe a simple drip rail would work better than a gutter which can only carry a small amount before overflowing. Most buses just have "eyebrows" for that reason. They just direct the flow out and away from the windows and straight down rather than channeling it for umpteen feet and down(?).

Just a thought.

[Puggy]

I wondered about that. It's a short bus (23' or so, Collins), and not that much.

The catch is, if it's high flow, just something to project it out is more efficient, but if it's low flow, then just a simple projection would just dribble down the side anyway, and a real channel would be more effective.

[CaptainInsaneo]

If you went with an L shaped piece that was about 2 in long and placed it at the point where the roof starts to curve down it should funnel most the water down the front or back, unless it is one hell of a down pour. leaving a much smaller surface area to allow water to head towards the windows.

[turf]

i think your channel would be overwhelmed pretty easily by any rainfall. a drip edge like what captain I says will probably do your best.

my bus has an "A" shape drip edge that keeps water off the sides.

[aaronsb]

On a bluebird they have the integrated window "shades" over each section - I used that as the foundation for a continuous drip rail. The installation was pretty simple - a rivet at the beginning and end of each drip hood section, and sealed between the rail and the body of the bus with sikoflex.

When I painted elastomeric coating over it, I ran the coating right up to the edge of the drip rail which seals it further.

After it started raining I had to go back and touch up a few spots I missed with sikoflex one more time, but it's worked pretty fantastic at keeping the rain off things.

The drip rail is galvanized so it's fairly resistant to corrosion.

It also has a secondary purpose that's not obvious except with close inspection. When I installed the new sheet metal on the bus, I ran the metal up inside those window eves a bit, but I intentionally left a gap. This gap acts as a ventilation space to allow airflow between the layers of the wall inside the bus. I have found it to be extremely effective, and act exactly the same as soffit vents. The trim hides the venting feature and keeps water from intruding.

If I damage the rail it's very common stuff: Construction Metals 1-1/2 in. x 1-1/2 in. x 10 ft. Galvanized Steel Roof Edge Flashing-RE15G - The Home Depot

[jazty]

^ It's sort of hard to see from this lo-def picture, but Thomas buses have a J-channel type of drip rail. It does a tremendous job. During heavy rain it does overflow, but it keeps the drips well away from the windows. During medium to light rainfall it pulls it all to the front and back.

[EastCoastCB]

I like the AmTran/Ward design. Mine has a nice, continuous rail.

[Puggy]

Jazty, that's pretty close to what was on the bus before I think. There is a J rail over the passenger door, and there used to be one just where yours is over the windows, but this one's roof got lifted and it was removed. With the lift, there is about 1 foot of new side between the top of the windows and the bottom of the roof curve.

The temptation right now is to first add something where the roof curve ends along the entire length of the bus. Then add a second channel just over the windows. The redundancy might help a bit more to keep water from running across the windows.