St Paul Minneapolis Seamless Gutters

Rain Gutters and Seamless Gutter Systems Minneapolis, St Paul MN

Sizing Up Your Gutter System St Paul / Minneapolis MN

Gutter Tips

Even if you are just shopping for contractors we would like to provide some basic knowledge to empower you to make an educated decision in choosing the best gutter contractor.

The drawing below illustrates the amount of rain a different pitch roof will collect. Assuming the rain comes straight down they are all the same, even though the roof area of a 12/12 pitch roof is more than that of a 4/12 roof the building area (foot print) is the same.

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″ Fascia-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. Using the drawing illustration below, if line A is 15 feet and line B is 50 feet you would have 750 sq. ft. of roof area and it will produce 465 gallon of water for every 1 inch of rain fall. If you use this figure to include the entire 30′ x 50′ building it is surprising at the amount of rain water that a building or home will produce with a 1″ rain. (930 gal)

Star Symbol = Down Spout location Circle Symbol = High point of gutter

To calculate your water collecting roof area multiply line A by line B. There should be at least one 2″ x 3″downspout for every 40′ of gutter or 600 sq ft. of roof area, the gutter should be secured every 2′. The back of the gutter should always be under the metal roof drip-edge on less than 6/12 pitch roofs. This will prevent water sucking back and running behind the gutter and rotting out the face board.

Minneapolis Professional Gutters Installation

When you are ready to buy seamless gutters, the way to go about it is to hire a Minnesota seamless gutters specialist to take care of the job. That way you can make sure the job is done right.