How to Choose the Best Rain Gutters to Protect Your Home
We can all agree every structure on Long Island should have rain gutters, but do you know how to choose the best rain gutters to protect your home? Between the rains and the snow, we get a lot of water falling off our homes, offices, buildings, etc., and this water needs to be directed away from where it can cause property damage.
However, not all gutters are equal. Some types of rain gutters are more cost effective but may not serve the right purpose. How do you know which rain gutter is best for your home?
Don’t worry – anyone can choose rain gutters for their property if they know what to look for. Read on to get the best advice on how to choose rain gutters for your house. We’ll also break down for you the various types of rain gutters you can get from Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning of Long Island!
Why Choose Rain Gutters for Your Home?
The job of rain gutters is to collect water when it rains (or ice and snow in the wintertime, of course) and direct that water away from your house. In most instances, this rain will be deposited in an area of lower elevation, so it can flow away from the structure on its own. Most new construction will have underground drains connected to drywells to collect the rainwater runoff.
Without rain gutters, buildings suffer all kinds of problems, including:
When you properly maintain your gutters, they can prevent all of these undesirable situations and more.
But there’s no one-type-suits-all solution. Rain gutters come in a variety of sizes, types and styles, and you’ll have to choose the right rain gutter for your property — if you want them to function right and last for a long time!
How to Choose Rain Gutters That Make Sense?
Most gutters typically last ten to fifteen years; with professional maintenance, some gutter systems can last even longer. But if you choose the wrong gutter system for your house or climate, you could suffer a decade or more of water damage that may go unseen until it’s too late.
To choose the right kind for your property, you need to consider the following:
Materials
Choosing Vinyl Rain Gutters
Vinyl is lighter and less expensive, and may be a good choice for smaller buildings. Keep in mind, though, lighter-weight gutters can’t hold as much, and heavy snow may cause them to break. These gutters are also much more susceptible to the vigorous changes in temperatures that we see here on Long Island. In the summer, the vinyl gets hot and in some cases can start to droop or melt. In the winter we’ve seen these vinyl gutters get so brittle, small branches dropping from the trees or the weight of snow and ice can cause an entire section of gutter to break away from the home.
Choosing Aluminum Rain Gutters
Aluminum gutters make up over 95% of the gutter systems on Long Island. They are slightly less lightweight and slightly more expensive than vinyl, but aluminum is the most popular choice in today’s new and replacement gutter industry. Aluminum maintains its material integrity well, is easy to clean and maintain and offers the best value for the cost.
Choosing Stainless Steel Rain Gutters
Stainless steel gutters are the strongest and most durable gutter systems on the market. Stainless steel gutters provide durability, reliability, and longevity. These gutter systems will hold up through all the seasons Long Island can throw at them. The biggest drawback is the initial cost, as they are more expensive to purchase and install. But the long-term savings in gutter maintenance and damage prevention to the rest of the house more than makes up for it.
Choosing Copper or Zinc Rain Gutters
Copper and zinc gutters are considered the “exotics” of the gutter world. Most european and “old world” gutters are made from copper and many of the new construction high end homes will be outfitted with these very expensive systems. Although the appearance of these metals, coupled with their advantage of longevity may be very alluring, typically the cost is a decisive factor in avoiding these systems.
Shape
Choosing K-Style-Shaped Rain Gutters
The most popular is the “K-style,” or ogee, gutter, which has a shape similar to decorative crown molding. The K-style, or ogee, gutter shape is quite popular, mostly due to the availability of materials and components and the rollforming machines that form the gutters out of rolled metal coils.
Choosing Half-Round-Style-Shaped Rain Gutters
Half-round gutters are less common than K-style, as they are more difficult to install. Less technicians are trained on this type of gutter system and the material and component costs are much higher than K-style gutter systems. We do recommend keeping them maintained well, too, since the curved, up-facing shape of these open gutter systems typically collect more debris and clutter than K-style gutters. Due to the expensive costs of these systems, we often find that they are installed improperly with far too few supporting brackets and fasteners.
Performance and Quality
Remember that your gutters must hold up all year - 24/7/365. On Long Island, that means torrential rain storms – even potential hurricanes – as well as snow and ice. They have to weather all the weather.
So you’ll certainly need the professional gutter installation team at Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning of Long Island to help you choose and install the best rain gutter system.
Cost
This goes without saying. You can’t get gutters you can’t afford. One thing to keep in mind, though, is the improved resale value of the entire home. If you think you may sell before you replace your gutters again, it may be worth it to get the sturdiest, most attractive rain gutters you can – provided they do the job of protecting the rest of the house!
Contact Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning of Long Island for the Best Rain Gutters for Your Home
Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning of Long Island installs a variety of gutter systems. We also install gutter protection — including screens and the LeaFree Premium Gutter Protection System — to keep the debris, pests, and more from damaging your gutters and preventing the gutters from doing their job.
If you need help choosing the right rain gutters, we can help.
Contact Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning of Long Island today to learn more about choosing the right gutter system.
