Aluminum Gutters
Rain gutters are a simple, yet important investment in the long-term maintenance of your home.
Gutters provide a channel for the rainwater so that it doesn’t run off of your roof and settle around your foundation, thereby keeping your foundation strong, your basements, siding and windows protected, and minimizing any erosion and damage to your landscape.
Aluminum gutters are a great choice for almost any home. For installation, they are lightweight and relatively easy to work with. Aluminum material is ideal for long-term service as they are highly durable, rust-proof and hold paint well. Additionally, they are completely weather resistant and will maintain their structure and integrity, even in our rainy and cold Seattle weather.
Seamless Aluminum Gutters
The Benefits of Seamless Gutters
- Better appearance on your home
- Generally stronger and sturdier
- No weak points (seams) that may break down and fail over time
- Less likely to clog
- No seams to allow leaks
- Custom fit for your home
- Formed on the job to reduce waste
- Many color choices
- Can be painted to match your home
- Last up to 25 years
Residential Seamless Gutters
For residential applications, the 5-inch size gutter has been the standard size. With this size, you need one downspout per 40 feet of gutter.
6-inch size gutters are growing in popularity. This larger size can handle 40% more water than the 5-inch size, and you can cut down on the number of downspouts required, as you will only need one downspout per 60 feet of gutter.
As you determine your preferred gutter size, here are a few ideas to keep in mind:
- General climate
- Amount of rainfall
- Amount of heavy rainfalls
- Roof pitch
- Roof line
- Valleys in roof
- Roof surface area
- Upper gutters that drain into lower gutters
Commercial Gutters
Commercial gutters often have a different set of requirements, based on city or county building codes. Seamless gutter materials can also be used in commercial applications, though the sizes are generally 6-inch or 8-inch.
Box gutters are also common in commercial applications, as the box shape allows a higher volume of water to flow more freely and become dispersed more quickly. The size of the downspout is equally as important when determining the best gutter for your building. The smaller 6-inc gutters will generally use the 3” x 4” downspout and the larger 8-inch gutter will likely use a 4” x 5” downspout.
If you have scuppers to help drain the water from your roof, you will also need a leader head at the top of the downspout. This part of the roof drainage system helps catch larger amounts of water and funnel it into the downspout. Depending upon the volume of water flow off of your roof, you will likely want to install the leader head high enough above the scupper so that water is forced into the downspout and is not able to rush completely over the top of your drainage system and cause damage below.
Keep Your Gutters Clean
Once you have installed a new gutter system, you will want to make sure you maintain it properly.
Rule of thumb is that you want to check your gutters at least twice per year. If you are in an area with a lot of trees, you may need to check them even more often.
One option to help minimize the required maintenance is to install a gutter guard on the new gutter. This guard may be metal or mesh and will keep objects like leaves and larger debris from clogging your gutter system.
With or without the guard, however, you will want to check on your system regularly to insure optimal performance.
