Tuesday 17 April 2012

Different Types of Gutter Materials


One of the most important protections in our houses against destructive environmental elements is rain gutters. Here I have listed some of the most general or common gutter materials mainly used today.
WOOD
Wood gutters will give your home a hand built and traditional look. It requires a huge amount of protection to make sure that it won't get damaged from water, slump or collapse. They are somewhat costly too which depends on the wood specie that you want to use.
COPPER
The benefit of Copper gutters is that they are corrosion resistant. They can resist various weather conditions and will never rot away or get rust. Negligible maintenance is necessary for these types of gutters in comparison to other metal gutter types present around but they also have other concerns as well. These will cost you three to four times more than, say, aluminum gutters.
STEEL
Steel gutters are durable. They are known to be very resistant to damage from ice, heavy branches and other destructive debris. They are also a common choice for most homeowners because they are affordable and economic. They will not rust or wear away if they are not painted or properly treated.
ALUMINUM
Aluminum gutters are installation friendly. They don't require soldering like the steel and copper types since it only requires snap on fasteners. They are very lightweight, rust free and can be formed without difficulties. One disadvantage is that they can easily be deformed with pressure coming from ladders and other heavy materials.
VINYL
Vinyl gutters is extremely simple and easy to install. They are made from PVC plastic which is strong against scratch rusting and corrosion. One disadvantages of vinyl that in extreme temperatures it might cause the material to bend or warp.

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Guttering

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Important Points to Consider While Installing Gutter System

The gutter system of your residence is one of the parts of your house that you will definitely not negotiate over the functionality over the look that it will give to the design of your house. You may believe that the trouble that may arise from your sewer or guttering system is out-of-the-way but the truth is it's not.

Installing Guttering system in the house is a challenging issue because many a times there is a conflict between its function and aesthetic. The owners usually prefer that the design of guttering should fit perfectly to the exterior or outside design of the house that too without any compromising in its functionality.

The most common problems while installing guttering is to have a high-front gutter. This means that the front side of the gutter will be elevated than the back side. This is mainly used for aesthetic purposes. When an pour out occur due to slow down flow of water, the surplus water will fall on the lower side, in this case, the back side, and will directly go to the foundations and walls of the house. This will make the foundations and walls weaker.

Inadequate down piping is a very common issue with gutter systems. If the down flow of rainwater is faster than the downpour of water in the pipes, this will result into overflowing.

Another issue with guttering systems is the shortage of gutter guard. The primary use of this is to help gutters free of leaves and other remains that might obstruct the flow of water or result into obstruction of the pipes. This will result into overflow of water and spilling.