One of the most important and often ignored parts of your home is the gutter system. This is an essential safety feature of your home as it collects the rainwater and safely directs it down to the ground, away from the foundation of the house. Despite the fact that gutters play an important role, most homeowners fail to pay attention to their health.

Just like other parts of your home, rain gutter also deteriorate over time due to the changing weather or a lack of routine maintenance. When the gutter system of your home fails, it becomes necessary to repair or replace it. Unlike other projects, gutter installation is not a DIY job because it’s a very complex process that demands time and proper skills. For this reason, it becomes necessary to hire a professional to install or repair your gutter system.

If you’re facing any issue with your rain gutter, here are some important tips to keep in mind as you begin the rain gutter installation process.
Select Right Material and Make a List

You need to consider the material to be used for your rain gutter system. You can select the material according to your budget and needs. You will find numerous materials for rain gutters on the market and each material has its own benefits and downsides. For a perfect rain gutter installation, the most commonly used materials are galvanized steel, copper, aluminium, and stainless steel. Both stainless steel and copper are durable and don’t rust, but these materials are expensive. Aluminium is the most popular option because of its durability and lightweight. Once you choose the right material, compile a list of everything you will need to complete the job.

Gutter Size and Position of Downspout

Another important consideration is the size of the rain gutter that needs to be calculated according to your city’s rainfall intensity. To determine the right size of the gutter, find out the square footage and slope of your roof. You can do this easily by using an online gutter-sizing calculator or consulting a gutter installation professional. In addition to this, you’ll also need to determine the position of your downspout.

Choose Accessories Wisely

When you think of accessories, you might think of fancy items used for making rain gutter look attractive. But in reality, accessories play various important roles. You can invest in accessories that are used for preventing gutter clogs that are caused by leaves and debris. In addition to this, rain chains are quite useful as downspouts.

Ensure Proper Maintenance

No doubt proper installation of rain gutter is crucial but maintaining it is equally important. To extend the life of your gutter system, you need to keep it free from clogs, leaky joints, flooding, and other water damages. However, if your system is not installed properly, you’ll end up spending more money on repairing costs. Make sure, it is properly sloped toward the downspout at an angle of 1/4-in to eliminate water. Moreover, it’s necessary to apply a sufficient amount of sealant inside the gutters.

While installing a new gutter system, you might find it a little confusing to settle down on an option that seems to be best suited to your preferences. There are gutter systems made out of vinyl, steel, aluminum, copper, and other such materials. All these materials are made for the purpose of accommodating specialized needs of each household. Before you select any particular material, make sure that you look up their utility and functionality.

Amongst all these, the aluminum variant is probably the most universal one. Listed below are some of the advantages of aluminum gutters.

Popularity of Aluminum

Aluminum gutters are the most widely sold and bought in the market. This universality is justified by their tenaciousness and extreme durability, and they can be used for commercial, industrial, and residential units. Aluminum gutter unit also happen to be very low-maintenance in comparison to other materials.

No Rusting

Given that steel gutters are tougher than aluminum ones, the downside of this material is its heavy weight. Additionally, over time, the accumulation of leaves and debris will start corroding your steel gutter system and eventually rust over large areas, weakening the capacity of these units. Aluminum gutter units have an advantage over this drawback as they do not rust and are much lighter than the steel counterpart.

They are Customizable

Aluminum gutter are customizable to your requirements. They are available in varying gauges and thickness, thereby giving you the provision of tailoring it to match the needs of your home and the surrounding climatic conditions. This would further ensure that the gutter systems can fit all types of spaces on the roof or on the side of your house. Owing to their flexibility, aluminum gutter units can be made to fit odd angles and shapes as well, which is nearly impossible if you happen to use copper or steel gutters.

Seamless Gutter Options

The majority of homeowners have a proclivity for aluminum gutter systems in the context of seamless gutters. Aluminum works wonders to provide a seamless fit and guarantee minimal to no leaks at all. This helps in the conservation of water, also ensuring that the gutter unit abides by the safety regulations. The advantages of seamless gutters include the complete evasion of unprompted leaks, spillage, and breaks which further eliminate risks of foundation damage, basement flooding, mold and mildew, and soffit and fascia rot.

Durable & Long Lasting

Aluminum happens to be extremely durable. They are withstanding of both mild and abrasive weather conditions, including snow and hail. Moreover, they do not lose their thickness over time. These factors are important determinants of the longevity of aluminum gutter units, many of which last for decades on end. Unlike steel and copper units, aluminum gutter systems do not necessitate soldering of joints when being installed. They also hold out against thermal expansion.

Assorted Colors

Aluminum gutters are available in a wide spectrum of colors and designs to make it easier for you to choose one matching the aesthetics and décor of your house. They maintain their color well over time and are not susceptible to bleaching which is consequential to overexposure to the sun.

If you are on the lookout for premium-quality aluminum gutters are at competitive market prices, you can rely on Century Aluminum, active in the GTA area, for a hassle-free experience in installing your gutters.

Gutters might seem like an unnecessary and sometimes dated addition to a house. However, the truth is that if many houses do not have gutters or have ones that are not properly constructed, a few issues could arise. Examples of these include poor drainage of water from the roof which could lead to degeneration of the roof as well as the wall and in some cases the fountain. Installing gutters properly and making sure that they are properly maintained will easily help you avoid this headache.

One of the aspects of gutter installation that you may not be keen on is how to deal with the drainage. Gutters are simply tools to get rid of water from a roof efficiently, and then deposit them on the ground. However, how should this end point be managed? Some of the tips you can use to help you along include:

Use ground slope

The area around your house should slope away from it. In some countries, this is a legal requirement, but in most parts of the world, it is not specified in the building codes. Either way, you should ensure that your home has a gradient slope such as a drop of six inches in vertical height for every ten feet of horizontal length.

This serves the purpose of moving the water away from the house once it comes out of the other end of the gutter. It also reduces the chances of rain water accumulating around the house, which include formation of puddles of standing water around the home which could become an environment suited to some disease-spreading insects such as mosquitoes. The pools also make your compound look less attractive, and could damage the lawn in the long term.

Create a trench

You can create trenches to guide water to designated areas. These could be lined with concrete and then covered, so that they conduct water without being visible. You might need to be a contractor in order to get this right. One of the benefits of using trenches is that it allows you to direct the flow of water according to your needs. For instance, if you have a specific location where the water can be collected, you can design the trenches to all lead here. When trenches are properly designed, they may be designed to be invisible, reducing the risk of damage to a pristine lawn or compound.

If you choose to use a trench to drain the water, make sure that it’s not blocked since this will beat the purpose of it being there. This can be done by placing a sieve-like material between the gutter outlet and the trench. This captures larger objects which might obstruct the trench. If not, you can have the trench occasionally checked for blockage. This is especially if you notice some spillage

Install a French drain

A French drain can be thought of as an addition to the trench designed above. It is a pipe that has perfectly fits into the drain. The pipe has a series of holes along its length. The pipe and trench are surrounded by sand or gravel. The purpose of the French drain is to reduce some of the negative effects of a keyboard, including water runoff damage and erosion. Otherwise, they perform just as well as a normal trench.

These drainage methods are simple and cheap, but they are very important in preventing the damage that water from a gutter can do. If you work with a professional gutter installation firm, they are likely to sort you out with these solutions, making them good value for money. They will install the gutters, but they can also put in place measures to drain water from the gutters to the ideal locations

The best time to clean out gutters and eavestroughs is during the fall. This is when you have the chance to check if your gutters are in good working condition and if they have holes in them. We are not the only ones who get busy during the fall season. Bees and wasps tend to be very active during the fall season and they like to build their nests in the gutters and eavestroughs where there’s usually no much activity.

For someone allergic to bee and wasp stings, cleaning out gutters during fall can prove to be a challenging activity. You should always inspect your gutters for paper comb structures to see if bees and wasps are nesting before you undertake any maintenance routines on your gutter. There are ways to keep bees and wasps from nesting in your gutters and at the same time keep leaves and debris from accumulating. This article will highlight ways you can handle bees as you clean out you gutters without putting yourself in harm’s way.

Read more

Before we get started, what is an ice dam? Well, it is the frozen ice that forms the length of the eaves of a house during the winter season. When ice dams get bigger, they impede the free flow of melting snow and rain water from the roof. The resultant water accumulation then forms a small lake at the rooftop, and thereafter starts to seep underneath the concrete, cedar, asphalt tiles.

Tackling a continuing ice dam issue is both a costly, dangerous and frustrating task. This is because rooftop ice causes water leaks and roofing damage. Accumulated ice is quite dangerous for people that find themselves unlucky enough to be standing under the roof when iceberg calves off of the main rooftop glacier and falls to the ground.

This is one of the main reasons people are always tearing off eaves-troughs in disgust. They actually do so thinking that they are the cause of the entire problem. Unfortunately, removing an eavestrough in Mississauga due to ice accumulation does not eliminate the problem as dangerous quantities of ice will still build up. The real cause of rooftop ice accumulation goes deeper and costs the homeowner more to rectify.

How do ice dams form?

Ice dams form when warm roof surfaces forces the snow at the rooftop to melt, even when outdoor temperature is to some extent below the freezing point. The source of the heat warming the roof’s surfaces comes from inside the house. However, the eaves of the roof are basically colder as they do not have a warm source of heat from underneath. As a result, when the melted warm water hits the cold eaves, it instantly freezes to form what is commonly referred to as ice ridges. The ridges continue to build up, ending up trapping and freezing water from the roof on its way down to the ground. This leads to the formation of ice dams. The trapped water above the ice dams then slowly starts to seep beneath the shingles.

What are the best ways to remove ice dams from your eaves?

• Having heated eaves

All buildings in the colder regions of the country have high-resistance electrical heating systems in form of cables are specifically made for melting ice dams along the eaves. These cables are designed to zigzag the length of the eaves. These cables are connected to a home’s electrical mains and can be either switched on or off manually or by a thermostat. These cables are quite easy to install, even easier than eave’s membrane, and do not look as conspicuous, particularly against a tile or cedar roof. The main disadvantage with this type of a roof-heating system is that it consumes a lot of electric power, leading to increased energy bills.

• Impervious eaves

One of the best ways to solve ice dam issues at your home is to fasten continuos sheet of metal, asphalt or rubber roofing material above the lowest eight or ten courses of singles the length of the eaves. To properly shed water, a water-resistant material must be tucked beneath the topmost course of the shingles, but slightly above it. Although this fix will not stop the formation of ice dams, it will stop standing melted water from finding it ways in-between courses of shingles. Unfortunately, the additional waterproof coating is hard to hide, meaning that it is not ideal where aesthetics are a consideration.

• The cold roof

While this is the definitive solution to ice dam issues, it is the hardest to accomplish. Keeping the roof’s surface cold uniformly is easier said than done. Properly insulating the attic, and at the same time increasing ventilation forms the foundation to this solution. Apart from significantly reducing your heating expenses, this also lengthens the lifespan of the shingles.

Prior to covering old fascia and soffit directly with aluminum or vinyl, it is recommended that a full inspection be carried out so as to uncover rot and other damages. The commonest defects found during this kind of an inspection are normally associated with neglect or poor maintenance. Once the inspection is carried out and problems not found, the old fascia and soffit then can directly be covered with new aluminum or vinyl. But before doing this, there are a number of things that have to be taken into consideration. These include:

Determining if there is an existing rot in the wood

The best way to determine the presence of rot in wooden fascia and soffits is to use a sharp probe, screwdriver or awl. If your preferred tool penetrates the wood with little or no resistance, then this means that the wood is already rotten. Covering rotten wood with aluminum or vinyl is not a good idea as the rot will simply continue to spread. The new material unfortunately might end up expediting the process by limiting air circulation. As a result, this kind of a rot may eventually spread to the roof framing beneath, something that will end up causing a more costly revamp. If any decay is found, the affected boards must immediately be removed and the framing underneath examined to see if it is still sound.

How does the rot come about?

Soffit and fascia damage is basically caused by intrusive water. This causes the wood to slowly by slowly rot. Here is how it happens.

• Ideally when rain comes, your roof acts as a perfect system to direct rain water from the top of the roof to the ground, and all this without water into the house. How does this happen? The rains hits the roof, or shingles, then goes down the slope and into the gutters, and then through the downspout to the ground safely away from the house.

Unfortunately, some residue is left on the edge of the shingles which eventually drips down and get behind the gutter and the rest on the soffit. With passage of time, this causes the soffit and fascia to develop wood rot. Newer homes use a drip edge to protect this from happening. The drip edge acts as an excellent barrier that redirects the stray drips of water into the gutter. So, drip edges are one of the best ways to maintaining your home. However, these edges are often damaged or missing on older homes.

• Holes in the box gutters. Different from regular gutters in that the flashing leads directly into the gutter, they easily develop holes that eventually lead to wood damage.

Examining the ventilation

If the existing wood is in good shape, then it is safe to cover it with aluminum or vinyl material. The original soffits might have vents cut into the surface to provide fresh air to the attic. These form an integral part of ventilation of the attic. Most vinyl and aluminum soffit material has integral venting built into the design, and hence making sure that the material underneath has sufficient circulation is something of a paramount importance. This not only improves the conditions in the attic, but it also reduces the likelihood of rot in old soffits. In simple terms, it is not necessary to remove the old soffits as long as they are in good shape and proper allowance is made for air circulation and ventilation.

All in all, if you spot damage to your soffit and fascia in Toronto, make sure to have the rotted portion removed before covering it with either vinyl or aluminum. Removing the rotted section early enough can save you a lot of hassles and money in the long run.

Although an essentially important task, gutter cleaning is a risky responsibility. From cutting your fingers on sharp pieces of metal to falling off the ladder, and not to mention bites from insects or fleeing animals you might encounter, cleaning the gutters present a long list of dangers for which you must be prepared for. Fortunately, odds are that you will get through your cleaning project without an incident. However, it is important to protect yourself against the many potential dangers. The top five dangers in this case include:

• Dizziness or vertigo: A lot of people are suddenly overtaken by dizziness when working at high heights.

• Contact with electrical wiring: If you are not careful, you could end up accidentally hitting the overhead electrical wires with the ladder, or worst, grabbing overhead live wires while attempting to prevent a fall.

• Instability of the ladder being used: This is often caused by an insecure positioning on the gutter or due to placing the ladder on uneven ground. It could also be caused by improper positioning of the ladder against the walls.

• Inappropriate clothing: These kinds of clothing can catch on projections, causing the ladder and its users to topple sideways and fall.

• Poor maintenance of the ladder: An improperly maintained ladder is a dangerous tool to use when cleaning your gutter as it could easily break. A wobbly ladder also should not be used when cleaning the gutters as they are quite unsafe for use.

Safe gutter cleaning

If as a homeowner you knew the proper way to clean out your gutter, then you could be safe from the above mentioned gutter cleaning dangers. How so, you may ask. Well, read on to find out. There are a quite a number of gutter cleaning tips that can be opted for so as to always be on the safe side. The below listed gutter cleaning tips are some of the best among them.

Practice ladder safety

It is recommended that you make another person aware that you will be utilizing a ladder to work on your building’s gutter or roof for safety purposes. That being done, you should use a sturdy and safe ladder that is properly maintained. The preferable type of a ladder when it comes to cleaning your gutter is the type that has a small strong shelf that can be able to hold a 5-gallon or so bucket to collect the debris from the gutter. The bucket however needs to be firmly secured with a strong wire or rope. Before getting started, make sure to examine the ladder for loose parts, defects or dents.

Make use of a garden hose

The best type of garden hose to use for gutter cleaning undertakings is the type that comes with a pistol-grip trigger type of a spray nozzle, and for a good reason. This kind of a spray nozzle allows the user to adjust the water pressure to suit the immediate requirements with only one hand.

Ensure to protect your hands

Make sure to wear appropriate gloves to help protect your hands against rotting leaves and dirt debris that usually contains hidden bird and animal droppings that are ridden with disease causing bacteria. Apart from this, gloves are ideal for protecting against cuts from torn metal from the gutters. The most recommended types of gloves in this case are the thick, suede-made types as they are superior to rubber, cotton or thin leather varieties.

Wear appropriate eye protection

Protecting the eyes is mandatory as you never know what might fly out of the gutter when cleaning. A lot of people have been stung by wasps or bees or even knocked off the ladder by rats, birds and other animals leaving the downspouts at high speed once the cleaning undertaking commences.

Consider wearing rubber shoes

Because walking on a building’s roof is a necessary part of cleaning the gutters in Toronto, it is advisable to consider wearing rubber-soled. These types of shoes adhere best on the surface being worked on, preventing slip as well as fall incidents. And while at it, walking on the roofs should be done after the sun is well up in the sky as doing so in the morning is quite risky due to moisture.

Other gutter cleaning tips in a summary include:

• Being mindful of power line hazards

• Scheduling semiannual cleanings

• Ensure to power wash all debris off the roof first

• Be sure to use a quality gutter guard to eliminate the need for cleaning out the gutters

Spending a lot of time thinking about gutters does not solve any related problem that you may face. Instead, it weighs down on you and burdens you each day. Costly home repair bills are some of the things that many homeowners try to evade. Nonetheless, if you do not comprehend the core essence of gutters in your home you will not be in a position to fix any problem that rises early enough before there is extensive damage.

Home sidings need protection from rainwater because rainwater damages it. Gutters come into use by funneling off rainwater from the roof. As a result, home foundation, windows, doors and walls do not get damages from rainwater. The level of damage will be high when there is clogging in the gutters not to mention leakages and breakages. This is very true because they cause gutters to function poorly. Rainwater ends up collecting on the ground near the foundation. Here are some of the ways through which the gutter keeps your home safe.

Flooding at home and the basement

When it rains heavily, ample water collects to the ground. Poor drainage at home is likely to worsen things because more water will collect close to the home and at the very point of foundation. Too much water culminate into floods that may end at home and the basement particularly. If water gets to the basement and you have valuable things there, it will cause damages beyond repair. Well-installed gutters prevent water from collecting at the basement and around the foundation of a home. It minimizes the possibilities of damaged property.

Cracked and weak foundation

Foundation is the core part of any building and even more essentially a home. In that regard, it has to be strong and highly durable. However, there are factors that may affect it and trigger high rate of deterioration over the course of time. Too much rain for instance, affects the foundation of a home when it collects at the foundation. It slowly weakens it and eventually causes it to crack. Failure to take initiative to deal with the problem may spell big future problems. A gutter that functions to its best keeps the foundation free from rainwater as it channels it to the right drainage system.

No infestations and infections

A good number of insects particularly mosquitoes make use of stagnant as a breeding ground. With time, they increase in number and cause all manner of infectious diseases. Some of the illnesses caused by them may be terminal in some cases. The gutter ensures that mosquitoes and other insects that take advantage of stagnant water get no breeding ground. By rightly draining water from the rain through the proper channels, the chances of having high infection rate goes down tremendously and the home becomes a safe place to live.

Less molds

Molds particularly flourish when the gutters overflow with water. It creates a suitable environment for them to thrive in the basements and crawlspaces. Good gutters do not easily overflow with water. In that case, the chances of having molds that thrive and spread like fire in the basement and crawlspaces become minimal. Debris and leaves that fall from trees and get carried by the wind ending up in the gutter are the key things that cause clogging if left for a long time. Occasionally, it is fair enough to clear the gutters in case there is any debris or leaves that may result in clogging and blockages. Clear gutters ensure water flow and put an end to flourishing molds.

Erosion and paint damage

The foundation of your home does well for a long time when it has top soil that keeps it intact. Water flowing uncontrollably from poor gutter washes away the topsoil and leaves the foundation at a greater risk. Moreover, the water that drips off the leaking gutters ends up on the walls of a home causing great damage. It washes off part of the wall paint leaving it with unsightly look. To paint the wall again will require some money, which is another unnecessary cost. Perfect gutters fitted into the roof system ensure that you do not incur any cost due to damaged paint or eroded top soil that leaves your foundation vulnerable.

Rotting and rusting

Exterior building products that are mainly made of iron are more likely to rot and rust when exposed to water and air. Water that trickles through the leaks of spoilt gutters find their way to these product and cause damages that are costly to repair.

Most undoubtedly, gutters play a unique role in keeping the home a good place to live while protecting the beauty of soffits and fascia. They drain water and keep the home habitable even in cold season. Regular cleaning and maintenance of the gutters will go a long way to help you cut down unnecessary costs and keep your home in a good condition.