Protect Your Home From Water Damage – Install A Seamless Rain Gutter System
An inch of rainfall doesn’t sound like much. But when it falls on an average-size roof, it adds up to a 1,900-gallons gushing off the eaves of your home. That’s an awful lot of water that can cause an awful lot of damage if your gutters aren’t up to the task of controlling it. Yet we barely give gutters a second thought until they’re clogged and overflowing.
Overflowing gutters cause water damage to your home’s foundation. Water spills onto the ground which soaks, weakens, and cracks your foundation. Maybe a simple cleaning is all your gutters need, or maybe they need to be replaced altogether.
Protect Your Home From Water Damage With a Properly Installed Rain Gutter System
If you’re starting fresh, there are different shapes, sizes, and materials to choose from. Aside from pricey, maintenance-heavy wood troughs and short-lived vinyl ones, the best option for most of us is rugged steel, affordable aluminum, or elegant copper.
Gutter System
Anatomy of a Gutter System
Gutter: Captures water shedding off roof.
End cap: Closes end of gutter.
Fascia bracket: Attaches to eaves; supports gutters from below.
Downspout: Conveys water from gutter to ground. Also known as a leader.
Downspout bracket: Secures downspout to side of house.
Elbow: Changes direction of downspout.
Calculate The Best Size For Your House
Gutters are essential to the longevity of your home. Without gutters and downspouts leading rainwater away from the house, foundations become feedlots for mold that can sicken your family and rot your house. Once you’ve settled on a material, and a profile, you’ll need to pick a size. This procedure for sizing your gutter system is based on roof size, your area’s likely rainfall intensity, gutter volume and downspout size and frequency.
The difference will be the rate the roof will shed water, the roof material (metal, wood, asphalt) also regulates run off. Larger downspouts or more downspouts may want to be used for say a 12/12 metal roof. A standard rule for downspouts is that a 2 x 3 will drain 600 sq. ft. area, 3×4 1200 sq. ft. area.
Technical Information:
One foot of 5″ K-Style gutter holds 1.2 gallons of water.
One foot of 6″ K-Style gutter holds 2.0 gallons of water.
Gutter Expansion:
The increase in a 50 ft. length of material due to an increase in temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Increase (in inches) Galvanized steel (13/32″), Copper (5/8″), Stainless Steel (5/8″), Aluminum (25/32″) & Vinyl (1.92″ see note below.) Wood (1/2″) Wood expansion is influenced more by moisture rather than heat.
NOTE: Based on .000032″ of expansion for one inch of material for every one degree F. increase. The expansion figure used for vinyl is a approximate figure. Test results range from .000031″ to .000037″.
Water Collection information
On a 1 foot square flat surface area one inch of rain will produce .62 gal. of water. Using this value, you can calculate the amount of water that will come down your downspout on a given rain.
This link will give you the yearly rain fall in your area. //countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/ (Courtesy of countrystudies.us)
If your rain gutters and downspouts are working properly they will prevent roof and fascia board damage as well as prevent basement flooding by re-routing water a safe distance away from your foundation. But left to their own, rain gutters can clog, grow weeds and fungus, and overflow causing all sorts of problems for homeowners.
Granted, gutters aren’t exactly glamorous. But they handle a critical task: routing the runoff from a very large surface—your roof—to proper drainage away from the house. By doing this, they keep your house high and dry, protecting siding, windows, doors, foundation and basement from water damage.
Properly working rain gutter systems will divert a lot of potential wet basement problems, away from your home. If you are unwilling or unable to do your own gutter maintenance, repair or installation, there are Minnesota gutter installers that can provide this service.
You can find places that sell seamless gutter systems in your local yellow pages, or better yet, you can simply ask friends or family for recommendations.