The deeper eaves cost almost nothing extra. The cheapest part of a house is the lumber. But I have gutters, too :-)
The contractor complained that I was being ridiculous with all the myriad of things I wanted to keep the house dry. But I've lived in a damp house, and this house has been dry for 20 years. The extra money spent was cheap compared to dealing with a damp house. I love Seattle rain, but the house needs to be dry!
It's more than just the lumber. Depending on the angle of the roof, a 1 foot extension all the way around the house equates to lots of extra square footage of roof. All of that requires more material as well.
3. waterproof sealer paint on the exterior of the foundation
4. filter fabric against the waterproofing
5. basement slab sits on filter fabric then gravel
6. french drains under the slab
7. everything slopes away from the house
8. gutters and downspouts feeding into the storm drains
9. the windows sit in a one-piece sheet stainless steel insert that redirects all water that gets in around the edges back out (I love stainless steel!).
10. screens so leaves don't get into the underground drainpipes.
It hasn't been perfect. The contractor didn't install gaskets where he put bolts through the flashing - water got in and rotted the wood out. One of the downspouts went through the structure of the house, I complained it would likely clog up and it could not be cleaned. I was told that wouldn't happen. It clogged up solid after a year, and another downspout had to be added outside. The roofing guy used galvanically incompatible metals for the flashing and the nails. I made him pull all the nails out and replace them. He was mad about that, but we had agreed in advance that he'd use galvanically compatible metals. (Incompatible metals, when wet, will form a battery which will rot away both metals. In around a year, there'd be nothing holding the flashing on and holes in the flashing. Fortunately for me, I learned about galvanic corrosion at Boeing and what a big no-no it is!)
The contractor complained that I was being ridiculous with all the myriad of things I wanted to keep the house dry. But I've lived in a damp house, and this house has been dry for 20 years. The extra money spent was cheap compared to dealing with a damp house. I love Seattle rain, but the house needs to be dry!