Benefits of Seamless Gutters
Gutters should be replaced nearly as often as the roof, so roughly every 20 years. This is a long time, but in the meantime, your home’s rain gutters need to do their job with little effort on your part besides gutter cleaning and routine maintenance.
If you haven’t replaced your home’s gutters recently, it’s probably about time to begin considering the options. Odds are, your options have changed a lot since the last time you shopped for gutters, either when you built your home or the last time you replaced them.
Styles and types of materials improve drastically over a period of only a few years. This means your next gutters will be a lot more efficient, lighter and offer better curb appeal than the ones that are currently on your house.
Seamless gutters are one of the newest options available.
What are Seamless Gutters?
One of the standout enhancements in residential gutters is the invention of seamless gutter systems.
Seamless gutters are installed in very long sections, as opposed to traditional gutters that only come in sections between 10 and 20 feet. They are made on-site in many cases with a custom machine, removing the difficulties of transporting such long, narrow items.
Most gutter installation services have their own equipment and can do the whole process – measure, manufacture and install your seamless gutters – in just one day!
Because they are manufactured to size, it is not uncommon to have seamless gutters that extend over 50 feet, with the maximum length of a seamless rain gutter around 100 feet with no joints. This offers homeowners the choice to have an individual piece of lightweight aluminum in any color they choose.
Benefits of Seamless Gutters
Traditional gutters have been popular for so long that it might be hard to believe how another option can be more effective. To determine if seamless gutters are a good idea for your house, you will want to understand the benefits of them so you can understand why there is a noticeable price difference for them.
There are many benefits of seamless gutters over traditional gutter systems:
Better Curb Appeal – With joints only at the corners, seamless gutters have a noticeably sleek look. Seamless gutter fabrication machines cut out holes for gutter downspouts, which should be present every 20 to 30 feet, so that they are smooth and perfectly sized. The measurements also help the curb appeal of your house without being too overstated or obvious.
Easier Care – Fewer joints mean there are fewer chances for debris to get hung on or get stuck within the gutters. Water flows through smoothly with less clogs from dirt and debris. As a homeowner, this will likely make you very happy, since it means you won’t be cleaning them out as much. Seamless gutters usually only need 1 annual cleaning. In comparison, most traditional gutter systems must be cleaned 2 to 4 times a year to keep them working well.
Lower Chance of Leaks – Traditional gutters can leak at any joint if the gutters start pulling away from the home. Loose fasteners are another problem that can cause gutter leaks. Eliminating joints along the entire length and width of your house reduces the chance of leaks (which protects your windows, porches, and landscaping).
Discourages Pests – Buildup in your gutters will attract animals and insects that will hide inside of them or build a nest with the debris that is present. From there, insects, birds, squirrels and chipmunks have easy access to your attic and will damage your roof, leading to hundreds of dollars’ worth of damage (at a minimum). Keeping that buildup out of your gutters makes them less attractive for pests.
Eliminates Waste – Measuring for seamless gutters and then manufacturing them on site guarantees that your gutters will be the correct size without having additional pieces that were cut off to match the length of the home. This is an eco-friendly practice that reduces your home’s carbon footprint. Also, there is no need to get rid of the excess (which can result in harmful chemicals) or see it end up in a landfill.
Last Longer – Seamless gutters are made with the newest technology and the best materials on the market. This creates fewer leaks, a smaller chance of rusting and reduced risk of the gutters pulling away from the house. Longer lasting gutters can also protect your home, including the exterior walls, windows and surrounding soil below.
Seamless Gutters Installed by a Professional
Seamless gutters almost always need professional installation due to their size and the experience and machinery required to build them. Most homeowners don’t have own the machinery needed to produce seamless gutters, nor do they have the training on how to program these machines to make precise cuts.
Seamless gutters are more expensive, but once they are professionally installed, you will quickly understand their value which pays for itself due to less repairs and longer time between replacements. If you have any questions concerning the value of seamless gutters, speak to a gutter installer who provides both standard and seamless gutter systems to determine if the price difference and benefits are worth it for your budget and needs.
Installing seamless rain gutters is not a project that a single person can handle safely. Professionals can install a section up to about 35 feet by themselves, but anything longer than that will require a second person.
For seamless gutters that are less than 35 feet, they will start in the middle and work their way to each end, securing the gutter every few feet. For rain gutters longer, the installation team will need to start in two places (1/3 of the way from each end) and fasten those places due to the length and the weight of the seamless gutter.
Paying for professional seamless gutter installation also means that your warranty will be intact in the event of an accident or storm damages.
Seamless gutter installation is not a recommended DIY home improvement project. You can damage a long gutter by mishandling it. This can affect the gutter’s appearance as well as its effectiveness. Maple Grove Gutters is proud to offer seamless gutter installation to all homes and businesses in the Maple Grove area. Call 612-429-4788 now for more information!