Rain gutter installation North Port

Coordinates: 27°3′58″N 82°10′19″W / 27.06611°N 82.17194°W / 27.06611; -82.17194^[1]Country United StatesState FloridaCounty SarasotaIncorporated (City of North Port Charlotte)June 18, 1959 (1959-06-18)^[2][3]Reincorporated
(City of North Port)1974^[2][3]Government

 • TypeCommission-Manager • MayorPhil Stokes • Vice MayorPete Emrich • CommissionersBarbara Langdon,
Demetrius Petrow, and
David Duval • City ManagerAlfred Jerome Fletcher, II • City ClerkHeather FaustArea

104.21 sq mi (269.91 km²) • Land99.38 sq mi (257.39 km²) • Water4.83 sq mi (12.52 km²)  4.40%Elevation

9.8 ft (3 m)Population

74,793

85,099 • Density752.6/sq mi (290.58/km²) • Urban

199,998 (US: 194th)^[5] • Urban density1,484.8/sq mi (573.3/km²) • Metro

859,760 (US: 70th) • CSA

1,089,011 (US: 56th)Time zoneUTC−05:00 (EST) • Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (EDT)ZIP codes

Area codes941FIPS code12-49675GNIS feature ID0294334Websitenorthportfl.gov^[6]

North Port is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The population was 74,793 at the 2020 census.^[7] It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area.

It was originally developed by General Development Corporation (GDC) as the northern Sarasota County portion of its Port Charlotte development, the other portion located in the adjacent Charlotte County. GDC dubbed the city, "North Port Charlotte", and it was incorporated under that name through a special act of the Florida Legislature on June 18, 1959. By referendum in 1974, the city's residents approved a change to its name as "North Port", dropping "Charlotte" from its name to proclaim the city as a separate identity.^[2][3] It is home to the Little Salt Spring, an archaeological and paleontological site owned by the University of Miami.

North Port includes Wellen Park, a master-planned community of over 7,000 acres with shopping, restaurants, distinct neighborhoods, and a vibrant downtown.^[8]

Archaeological digs at the Little Salt Spring show that what is now North Port was inhabited by pre-Columbian Native Americans. Evidence of their existence includes projectile points, a carved oak mortar, and a piece of a nonreturnable wooden boomerang.^[9]

In 1954, the Mackle Brothers started the General Development Corporation with the intention of selling property in Florida to northerners. Not only would they plat and sell a majority of what is now North Port, the company's employees served on the city's first council.^[10] The city itself was incorporated in 1959.^[2][11]

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made direct landfall in Florida just south of Sarasota County. North Port, in particular, experienced excessive flooding and the Holiday Park mobile home community was almost completely destroyed.^[12][13]

The approximate coordinates for North Port are

27°3′58″N 82°10′19″W / 27.06611°N 82.17194°W / 27.06611; -82.17194. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 104.16 square miles (269.8 km²), of which 99.58 square miles (257.9 km²) is land and 4.58 square miles (11.9 km²) (4.40%) is water.

North Port is a municipality containing large-scale residential subdivisions along with an extensive network of streets. The municipality has annexed nearby locales, including the area known as Warm Mineral Springs, the location of a notable artesian spring, as well as its own significant residential subdivision.

Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park is in North Port.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild winters. According to the Köppen climate classification, the City of North Port has a humid subtropical climate zone (Cfa).

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1960	178		—
1970	2,244		1,160.7%
1980	6,205		176.5%
1990	11,973		93.0%
2000	22,797		90.4%
2010	57,357		151.6%
2020	74,793		30.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[14][15][7]

North Port racial composition
(Hispanics excluded from racial categories)
(NH = Non-Hispanic)

Race	Pop 2010[16]	Pop 2020[17]	% 2010	% 2020
White (NH)	46,752	58,417	81.51%	78.10%
Black or African American (NH)	3,824	3,788	6.67%	5.06%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH)	109	154	0.19%	0.21%
Asian (NH)	648	1,249	1.13%	1.67%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)	23	35	0.04%	0.05%
Some other race (NH)	112	371	0.20%	0.50%
Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)	885	2,924	1.54%	3.91%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	5,004	7,855	8.72%	10.50%
Total	57,357	74,793	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 74,793 people, 25,592 households, and 19,716 families residing in the city.^[18]

Of the 25,592 households in 2020, 4.8% of the population were under 5 years old, 18.6% were under 18 years old, and 26.7% were 65 years and older. 52.5% of the population was female.^[19]

In 2020, the median income for a household in the city was $64,543. The per capita income for the city was $34,514. About 7.0% of people were below the poverty line.^[19]

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 57,357 people, 20,201 households, and 14,018 families residing in the city.^[20]

North Port is the Spring Training home for the Atlanta Braves, who hold extended spring training in North Port.^[21]

In 1960, the American Police Hall of Fame & Museum was opened in North Port. The opening ceremony included remarks from the then Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy.^[22] The museum has since relocated, first to Miami, and then to the present location in Titusville, Florida.^[23][24]

In 2007, the North Port Art Guild leased a building from the city and established the North Port Art Center. The center hosts exhibits as well as classes.^[25]

North Port has a city commission/city manager form of government.

The current city manager is Alfred Jerome Fletcher, II. The city commission has five members. The mayor/vice mayor roles are voted upon annually from the commission ranks.

As of 2024, the current commission includes:^[26]

• Commissioner Demetrius Petrow (District 1)
• Commissioner Barbara Langdon (District 2)
• Commissioner David Duval (District 3)
• Vice Mayor Pete Emrich (District 4)
• Mayor Phil Stokes (District 5)

The city of North Port has its own police force, fire department, and waste management.^[27] City Hall of North Port is located at 4970 City Hall Boulevard.^[28]

North Port has five elementary schools, one public charter school (Imagine School at North Port), two middle schools, and one high school (North Port High School) operated by Sarasota County Public Schools.^[29] Suncoast Technical College is also in the city.

• City of North Port

 

Water collected by a rain gutter is fed, usually via a downpipe (also called a leader or conductor),^[17] from the roof edge to the base of the building where it is either discharged or collected.^[18] The down pipe can terminate in a shoe and discharge directly onto the surface, but using modern construction techniques would be connected through an inspection chamber to a drain that led to a surface water drain or soakaway. Alternatively it would connect via a storm drain (u-bend) with 50 mm water seal to a combined drain.^[19] Water from rain gutters may be harvested in a rain barrel or a cistern.^[20]

Rain gutters can be equipped with gutter screens, micro mesh screens, louvers or solid hoods to allow water from the roof to flow through, while reducing passage of roof debris into the gutter.^[21]

Clogged gutters can also cause water ingress into the building as the water backs up. Clogged gutters can also lead to stagnant water build up which in some climates allows mosquitoes to breed.^[22]

The Romans brought rainwater systems to Britain. The technology was subsequently lost, but was re-introduced by the Normans. The White Tower, at the Tower of London had external gutters. In March 1240 the Keeper of the Works at the Tower of London was ordered by King Henry "to have the Great Tower whitened both inside and out". This was according to the fashion at the time. Later that year the king wrote to the Keeper, commanding that the White Tower's lead guttering should be extended with the effect that "the wall of the tower ... newly whitened, may be in no danger of perishing or falling outwards through the trickling of the rain".^[23]

In Saxon times, the thanes erected buildings with large overhanging roofs to throw the water clear of the walls in the same way that occurs in thatched cottages. The cathedral builder used lead parapet gutters, with elaborate gargoyles for the same purpose. With the dissolution of the monasteries- those buildings were recycled and there was plenty of lead that could be used for secular building. The yeoman would use wooden gutters or lead lined wooden gutters.

When The Crystal Palace was designed in 1851 by Joseph Paxton with its innovative ridge-and-furrow roof, the rafters that spanned the space between the roof girders of the glass roof also served as the gutters. The wooden Paxton gutters had a deep semi-circular channel to remove the rainwater and grooves at the side to handle the condensation. They were under trussed with an iron plate and had preformed notches for the glazing bars: they drained into a wooden box gutter that drained into and through structural cast iron columns.^[24]

The Industrial Revolution introduced new methods of casting-iron and the railways brought a method of distributing the heavy cast-iron items to building sites. The relocation into the cities created a demand for housing that needed to be compact. Dryer houses controlled asthma, bronchitis, emphysema as well as pneumonia. In 1849 Joseph Bazalgette proposed a sewerage system for London, that prevented run-off being channelled into the Thames. By the 1870s all houses were constructed with cast iron gutters and down pipes. The Victorian gutter was an ogee, 115 mm in width, that was fitted directly to the fascia boards eliminating the need for brackets. Square and half-round profiles were also available. For a brief period after the first world war, asbestos-cement guttering became popular due to it being maintenance free: the disadvantages however ensured this was a short period: it was more bulky and fractured on impact. ^[25]

Cast iron gutters were introduced in the late 18th century as an alternative to lead. Cast iron enabled eaves gutters to be mass-produced: they were rigid and non-porous while lead could only be used as a liner within timber gutters. Installation was a single process and didn't require heat.^[26] They could be attached directly to the fascia board. Cast iron gutters are still specified for restoration work in conservation areas, but are usually replaced with cast aluminium made to the same profile. Extruded aluminium gutters can be made to a variety of profiles from a roll of aluminium sheet on site in lengths of up to 30 m. They feature internal brackets at 400 mm spacing.^[27]

In UK domestic architecture, guttering is often made from UPVC sections. The first PVC pipes were introduced in the 1930s for use in sanitary drainage systems. Polyethylene was developed in 1933. The first pressurised plastic drinking water pipes were installed in the Netherlands in the 1950s. During the 1960s rain water pipes, guttering and down pipes using plastic materials were introduced followed by PVC soil systems which became viable with the introduction of ring seals. A British Standard was launched for soil systems, local authorities started to specify PVC systems. By 1970 plastic rainwater systems accounted for over 60% of new installations.^{[citation needed]} A European Standard EN607 has existed since 2004.^{[citation needed]}

• 
  A collector with 112 mm gutter, draining into 68 mm downpipe
• 
  Available gutter fittings
• 
  Available pipe and gutter fittings
• 
  Fitting a gutter to a 45° connector

It is easy to install, economical, lightweight requires minimum maintenance and has a life expectancy of 50 years. The material has a disadvantageous coefficient of thermal expansion 0.06 mm/m°C, so design allowances have to be made. A 4-metre gutter, enduring a −5 °C to 25 °C temperature range will need space to expand, 30 × 4 × 0.06 = 7.2 mm within its end stops.^[28] As a rule of thumb a 4-inch (100 mm) gutter with a single 68-millimetre (2.7 in) downpipe will drain a 600-square-foot (56 m²) roof.^[29]

High quality stainless steel guttering systems are available for homes and commercial projects. The advantages of stainless steel are durability, corrosion-resistance, ease of cleaning, and superior aesthetics. Compared with concrete or wood, a stainless steel gutter will undergo non-negligible cycles of thermal expansion and contraction as the temperature changes; if allowance for this movement is not made during installation, there will be a potential for deformation of the gutter, which may lead to improper drainage of the gutter system.

Seamless gutters have the advantage of being produced on site with a portable roll forming machine to match the specifications of the structure and are generally installed by experienced tradesman. Seamless gutter is .027" thick and if properly installed will last 30+ years.^{[citation needed]}

In commercial and domestic architecture, guttering is often made from zinc coated mild steel for corrosion resistance. Metal gutters with bead stiffened fronts is governed in the UK by BS EN612:2005.

Copper guttering boasts water cleaning abilities that stem from the antimicrobial properties of copper. It also develops patina that is commonly associated with the copper material, where the gutter system's colour darkens within the first few years and then transitions to a dark green at seven years. Copper gutters reach their full patina state at twenty years, however a verdigris solution can be used on the system to speed this process up drastically.^[30]

Aluminium gutters offer good corrosion resistance, are lightweight, and are easy to install. Additionally, aluminium gutters come in a variety of finishes and styles.^[31]

• 
  Aluminium gutters in Moscow

Finlock gutters, a proprietary name^[32] for concrete gutters, can be employed on a large range of buildings. There were used on domestic properties in the 1950s and 1960s, as a replacement for cast iron gutters when there was a shortage of steel and surplus of concrete. ^{[citation needed]} They were discredited after differential movement was found to open joints and allow damp to penetrate, but can be fitted with an aluminium and bitumastic liner.^[33] Finlock concrete gutter units are made up of two troughs – one is the visible gutter and the other sits across the cavity wall. The blocks which can range from 8 to 12 inches (200 to 300 mm) can be joined using reinforcing rods and concrete, to form lintels for doors and windows.^[33]

Guttering can be made from any locally available material such as stone or wood. Porous materials may be lined with pitch or bitumen.

• 
  Wooden gutter at an open air museum
• 
  Wood used on a stone building
• 
  Stone gutter in Burgundy
• 
  Stone gutters in Slovenia

Today in Western construction we use mainly three types of gutter profiles - Fascia style, half round, and box. In days past there were 12 gutter shapes/styles.

Gutter guards (also called gutter covers, gutter protection or leaf guards) are primarily aimed at preventing damage caused from clogged gutters and reducing the need for regular gutter cleaning. They are a common add-on or included as an option for custom-built homes.

Brush gutter guards resemble pipe cleaners and are easy to install. They prevent large debris from clogging gutters, but are less effective at reducing smaller debris.

Foam gutter guards are also easy to install. They fit into gutters, so they prevent large objects from obstructing waterflow, but they do not prevent algae and plant growth. A negative feature of foam type filters is that the pores quickly get clogged and thus need replacement due to not allowing water to pass through.

Reverse curve or surface tension guards reduce clogged gutters by narrowing the opening of the gutters. Many find them to be unattractive and difficult to maintain.

Screen gutter guards are among the most common and most effective. They can be snapped on or mounted, made of metal or plastic. Micromesh gutter guards provide the most protection from small and large debris.^[34]

PVC type gutter guards are a less costly option, however, they tend to quickly become brittle due to sun exposure.

• Sima (architecture)
• Chantlate
• Copper in architecture
• Cornice
• Rain chain
• French drain

Bibliography

• Chudley, R. (1988). Building construction handbook. London: Heinemann. ISBN 0434902365.
• Impey, Edward; Parnell, Geoffrey (2000), The Tower of London: The Official Illustrated History, Merrell Publishers in association with Historic Royal Palaces, ISBN 1-85894-106-7
• Maskrey, Michael B (2012). Level 2 NVQ diploma in plumbing and heating. London: City & Guilds. ISBN 9780851932095.
• Hall, E (1982). The New home owner manual. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0600349918.

• An Illustrated glossary of roofs and roofing terms.
• Tutorial on installing plastic guttering
• Tutorial on installing metal sheet guttering