PROPERTYSPARK ARTICLE
How to Choose the Best Rain Gutters
for Your North Carolina Home
Author: Shelly Lopez
Not sure how to go about it? Then let’s explore together in this quick read how to choose the best rain gutters for your home!
Get Your Mind into the Gutter
Mighty Dog Roofing experts suggest getting your home gutter system serviced at least twice a year. Occasionally, a routine gutter maintenance check will let us find the need for gutter replacement. Ideally, this will be done by roofing and guttering professionals, but you as a homeowner still need to decide the type of gutter to choose.
There are 5 things to consider when choosing rain gutters for your home. These are gutter material, size and shape, segmentation, accessories, and general factors.
The Right Gutter Material
Gutters these days are made of various materials. Before we give you our recommendation here is a quick run-down of the various common materials gutters are made of:
Wood
- One of the traditional types and often made of cedar, redwood, and fir.
- Pros: perfect for old, traditionally-built, and designed homes.
- Cons: gutters of this material have a shorter lifespan compared to others of more modern materials; can be a strain on your budget.
Vinyl
- Made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic, and the most modern of all common gutter materials,
- Pros: low purchase price, light-weight and easy to DIY install
- Cons: may crack due either to extreme cold or to wear and tear after some time
Aluminum
- Available in seamless models, and more weather-resistant than wood or vinyl. You can purchase either the secondary grade aluminum gutter, which is made of recycled aluminum or the primary grade, which is built thicker and is made of higher-quality aluminum.
- Pros: cheap, easy to work with, and does not rust
- Cons: less structurally strong compared to other metals and can thus be dented or warped by strong winds or falling branches
Galvanized Steel
- Material that’s made by coating steel with a layer of zinc to help prevent rusting.
- Pros: more robust than aluminum; can handle pressure or force from falling branches and high-velocity winds
- Cons: eventually the zinc layer wears off and allows rust to form on the exposed steel surface. Fortunately, rusting may occur only after 20-25 years.
Stainless Steel
- Gutters made from this material are made of an amalgamation of steel and other metals like chromium and nickel, giving it a characteristic sheen and robustness that beats all other gutter materials
- Pros: virtually the strongest material for a gutter to be made of, and thus it’s not only rust-proof but also weather-resistant
- Cons: one of the most expensive materials in the market
North Carolina is in a sub-tropical climate, and still experiences all 4 seasons. Because of this, the weather during spring and summer can drastically change from warm daytime to cold nights, and from sunshine to stormy rains. It is ideal to go for metal gutters, especially stainless and galvanized steel, as they are not just robust, but last long through the years.
Choosing the best rain gutters means ensuring that each section of it is of the right size and shape. You want to make sure that all the rainwater is properly collected and led away from the house, thus you need to get the right gutter size to accommodate all.
Gutter sizes are based on their width across. Typical gutters span to 4-inches across, while there are also 3-inches types. In a state like North Carolina where rainfall can be quite heavy during summer, a 5-inch or 6-inch gutter size would be ideal, with 3-inch diameter downspouts.
Rain gutters usually come in either in two shapes based on how the opening looks. Choose the right shape that will complement the style of your house and increase its curb appeal. If your residence is of modern design characterized by flats and sleek lines, a K-shape gutter, the more common of the two in the market, is the ideal shape to use. On the other hand, if your house follows a more traditional style and you wish to maintain the aesthetics of it, choose a half-round or U-shape gutter.
Segmentation
In traditional design, house gutters are built in sections and assembled together. Each joint of this assembly is then glued with a sealant that prevents water from seeping out of the cracks and edges in between. All is well, except when bad weather comes and more often wreaks havoc on these joints and when the sealants eventually give out.
In recent years, with improvements in design and manufacturing, we now have what we call seamless gutters. Seamless gutters are perfect for stormy weather as they don’t have too many accessories that may loosen or unfasten during turbulent winds and heavy water flow.
Accessories
A gutter system requires more than pipes and gutters; it needs accessories to enhance its efficiency and prolong its lifespan. These accessories include:
Snap-lock brackets to hold the gutters in place and prevent. If installed with a good sealant, this also keeps molds and mildew, rot, and seepage away; and
gutter guards to keep leaves and bigger debris from blocking the pipes below and prevent intrusion of rodents, birds, and other creatures.
Ensuring that the accessories match with your entire gutter system is a given, after all, you can’t have semi-circular brackets holding K-shape gutters. If you wish to preserve and even enhance your house curb appeal, however, you also have to consider whether you want these accessories to complement or stay visually unobtrusive with your gutters.
Other Factors
There are other factors you may want to consider when choosing the best gutters for your home.
Local Regulations
Is your house located in a historic area? Or how about a neighborhood with deed restrictions? If this is the case, you might want to review first any regulations and restrictions in connection with gutters.
Water Exposure
Living in a coastal area is different from living in mountainous regions. This is due to humidity and the type of water exposure you get during rainstorms. For example, your house is more prone to seawater if it’s in Wilmington than if it’s in Asheville. Saltwater of any form would make quick work if you choose galvanized steel, so you might want to use a different material, like copper.
Budget
Would you be willing to pay a higher upfront fee, then lesser in future maintenance? Or are you more used to a lower initial price, with more frequent replacement? Whichever you choose, it will definitely affect the type of rain gutter you will have for your home.
Concluding with a Strike
One of the least maintained and often-forgotten systems in your house is the gutter. It’s your home’s “bodyguard” as it reroutes collected rainwater from your roof sides and away from the rest of your house. This keeps water, chemicals, and mold and mildew from intruding and damaging your home.
This is why getting the best rain gutters for your home is no walk in the park. Neither is its installation. It’s better if it’s professionally installed to ensure its functionality and weather resistance for a long time. After all, you don’t want to suddenly wake up in the middle of a stormy night due to some flooding caused by faulty gutter installation!
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