Are Your Gutters Sagging? Is Your Wife Nagging? Here’s Why.
Published 08/19/16
A few years have passed since you looked fondly at your new gutters, thrilled that you’d installed them yourself. Unfortunately, your fondness has now turned to irritation. Your gutters are clogged, warped, and sagging. Every time it rains, you get nervous. You have an inkling you did something wrong during installation, but what could have gone awry? When you install gutters, you need to be aware of a few key issues that can make your gutters a success.
Gutter Support Is the Key to Strong Gutters
The gutters may not be the problem. Instead, it could be how you supported those gutters. Gutter hangers, spikes, or brackets are the support system for your gutters. If your gutters are sagging, examine the support structures that attach your gutters to your home. Determine whether to replace these supports. You might attach new gutter brackets in new holes or replace supports that are broken. Make sure that you have enough supports so your gutters do not sag in the middle.
Catch the Pitch
Are your gutters beautifully straight? That could be a problem. While it looks like gutters should be straight, they actually need to facilitate the movement of water toward the downspout. The guideline is to have a quarter inch of slope for every 10 feet of gutter. If this doesn’t happen, your gutters could have standing water in them, and they could also accumulate debris since even small debris won’t be pushed along by the movement of the water. When gutters get full of needles, leaves, blossoms, or ice, they can warp and sag.
Are You Causing Your Gutters to Sag?
Are your seasonal activities causing your gutters to sag? If you forget to clean out your gutters, and you don’t have gutter covers, you could have trouble with warped and sagging gutters. When you lean your ladder against your gutters, you could push on or dent your gutters, causing them to sag. Take care of your gutters. They’re an important part of your home’s protective systems.
Consider Seamless Gutter Systems
If you’re thinking of replacing your gutters and you’ve had troubles with warping and sagging in the past, consider placing seamless gutters on your home. While seamless gutters are more expensive to install initially, they’re an excellent investment. As soon as you have a seam, you have a zone of weakness in your gutters, which adds the potential for warping, leaking, and sagging. Seamless gutters combined with gutter covers solve many of your problems with warping, sagging gutters.
Are you tired of that sinking feeling as the rainwater spreads out along your foundation? If your spouse is nagging you about fixing your gutters, look to Harry Helmet for assistance. We can’t solve all of your relationship troubles, but we can help you fix your gutters. Contact us today and view our photo gallery of successful gutter and gutter cover installations.
