23 Warren Street - C of A application - replace gutters6/21/22, 1:29 PM
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Salem Historical Commission
98 WASHINGTON STREET, SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS 01970 (978) 619-5685
Application for: CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS - HCCA-22-45
Date of
Submission:
June 20, 2022 Owner at Submission
(from Assessor)
TYLER KELLY;LEWIS
NICHOLAS
Applicant name:Kelly Tyler Owner (from Applicant)
Applicant phone:9787442755 Owner Phone 978-744-2755
Applicant email:madgerini@comcast.net Owner Email 23 Warren Street
Address of Property: 23 Warren Street
Declared District: McIntire Year Built (From Assessor)1838
Occupancy (from
Assessor)
Zoning (From Assessor)R2
Building Type (from
Assessor)
Property Use (From
Assessor)
Type of Work: Reconstruction
Applicant's Description
of Work:
We are proposing to replace the fir wood gutters of our 1838 Greek Revival house with extruded
aluminum Duragutter gutters on the main two-story house (84’ linear feet). The gutters will be
painted Benjamin Moore Navajo White to match the house trim. Rake trim detail will be added
below the gutter to replicate the original profile. We will retain the current galvanized steel round
downspouts, painted BM Navajo White.
We have been in contact with David Hornstein, the designer of Duragutter, a heavy duty,
extruded aluminum gutter that replicates the traditional ogee of original wood gutters, integrated
into the rake trim and preserving the Greek Revival architectural detail. (www.duragutter.com;
recently featured on PBS This Old House and in Fine Homebuilding this spring). Our proposed
contractor is Imer Cahuana of I&M Construction (Chelmsford), who has been installing
Duragutter for five years on numerous properties. A recent example of their work in Salem is on
Essex Street.
From 2005-2022, we have chosen to replace our wood gutters with wood in order to preserve the
architectural detail of the house. Several considerations led us to reconsider fir gutters:
• Difficulty in getting contractors for annual cleaning, oiling and repairs. Wood gutters
deteriorate without regular maintenance.
• Difficulty in finding experienced contractors for installation. We’ve been waiting for 18 months
for an expert wood gutter installer to become available.
• Durability: The fir gutters currently available aren’t as long-lived as the original heart-pine
gutters. When we replaced our north gutter in 2005, the contractor found it was attached with
hand-hewn nails. Modern replacement fir gutters have a much shorter life span. Since 2005, we
have replaced fir gutters on the north and south sides of the house. The north gutter replacement
has lasted 17 years. The south gutter replacement has lasted 9 years (its predecessor lasted 12
years). The kitchen gutters were replaced 6 years ago and need adjustment (28 linear feet).
• Cost: The high labor cost and frequency of repair greatly reduces the cost effectiveness of fir
gutters.
• Historic appropriateness: The Duragutter profile better replicates the historic profile than fir
wood. Copper (half round) or seamless aluminum (K style) wood require additional expert
carpentry in rebuilding returns to retain some architectural detail, but would not replicate the
original appearance where gutters are part of the trim.
• Efficiency: Duragutter carries twice the volume of water, an important consideration as we
experience more extreme weather and flash flooding events in the Northeast. Higher water
volume is also a plus for copper and seamless aluminum. Efficient water removal is essential due
to the vulnerability of fascia to moisture and rot. Leaking leads to water damage to fascia and
infiltration in the house and damage to plaster, necessitating additional expense.
• Our second choice for historic aesthetics and durability is copper (although the half round
profile isn’t original); seamless aluminum is prone to damage and not our first choice for historic
or aesthetic reasons. Duragutter is the costliest of the three options, although we hope the long
term durability will amortize the cost.
6/21/22, 1:29 PM
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