When you’re renovating your home, there is always the potential for mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes are small and easily fixable. At other times, they are large and problematic. When you’re adding gutters to your home, it may seem like a small project. However, gutters are an essential part of your home’s drainage system, and you need to get it right. Here’s how to help your next gutter project go seamlessly.

1. Look at Seamless Gutters 

There are two main types of gutters: sectional and seamless. Sectional gutters are often used for DIY projects. You take a large gutter, divide it into the parts that fit your home, and you piece them back together. Unfortunately, there are seams where the pieces of the gutter come together. These seams can lead to the accumulation of debris and can be areas where gutters bend, twist, or leak. When you’re looking at gutters, investigate the possibility of using seamless gutters that have no seams except for the corners of your home. 

2. Make Sure That Your Gutters Have the Right Slope

Gutters need to slope so that water and debris will move down the gutter rather than staying in the same place. The ideal slope is one inch per sixteen feet. If you have a particularly long gutter run of 40 feet or more, you can begin the slope in the middle and send water down toward the downspouts on either end.

3. Give Your Gutters Support 

Your gutters need support to stay up, and this comes in the form of gutter brackets. According to Do It Yourself, the spacing of your brackets depends on what the gutters need to carry: in areas where there is no snow, you could put brackets every 36 inches, but in places where there is snow and ice, you should “Space them so that they are able to carry the extra weight for longer periods throughout the season. Halve your maximum distance, placing the gutter hangers no more than 18 inches apart.”

4. Choose the Right Size of Gutter 

According to This Old House, “Five-inch K-style gutters or 6-inch half-rounds, the most common residential sizes, are able to handle the rainfall on most houses in most parts of the country.” However, if you have a large roof, a particularly steep roof, or if your area gets large amounts of rain in a short period of time, you may need to have wider or larger gutters. 

5. Add a Gutter Guard 

Do you want to avoid cleaning those gutters over time? If so, make a plan when you install them. Add a gutter cover to your gutters, and you’ll never have to clean your gutters again. Make sure that your gutter guard is high quality and actually effective – it should be from a company that receives excellent reviews, and one that you can trust.

At Harry Helmet, we know that you need someone to count on for professional advice about your gutter project. We have decades of experience in the field. Curious about how seamless gutters can improve your home drainage? Schedule a free estimate today.

Written by Del Thebaud