The Lowdown on Gutters

By Tim Liegler

Everybody knows that gutters are the key to directing rainwater from your roof to the ground and away from your siding, windows, doors, and foundation.  But there is more to it than that.  An improperly pitched gutter, a gutter with leaks, and a downspout too close to the home can do as much damage as having no gutter at all.

Anytime a Callen exterior product specialist is called by a homeowner for a roof, siding, fascia, and even windows or doors, we look at the gutters because homeowners typically don’t pay much attention to them and tend to ignore warning signs about dripping water coming through a corner joint.  It’s easy to spot in the wintertime because you can see little icicles hanging from the gutter.  What this means is there is a hole where water is penetrating.

Sometimes that can be fixed in the spring with a gutter sealant; but if the gutter system is old, you may be better off replacing it.

The Perfect Pitch

Gutters should be pitched properly and sloped to the downspout so water doesn’t collect in the eaves trough or overflow to the foundation.  Water is also very heavy and if it isn’t efficiently moved through the trough, it can cause sagging of the gutter.  Properly pitched gutters are also important in our climate during freeze/thaw cycles.  During a thaw, you want to be sure the water can run to a downspout.  This will definitely help prevent ice damming.  If you are unsure about the pitch of your gutters, you should call a professional to make sure the pitch is consistent with industry standards.

Down, Out and Away

Downspouts also need to be properly sized and you should have an adequate number of them.  A typical downspout is 2 in. x 3 in.  At Callen, we install a wider, bigger downspout of 3 in. x 4 in. to remove water faster, making the gutter more efficient.

Downspouts should kick out water as far away from the house as possible, at least five feet away from the foundation – but not into your neighbor’s yard.  Anytime we can put the downspout underground we recommend that, but it is a more expensive option because of the digging required and the installation of a drain tile.

For elongated downspouts that cross over the lawn, we can put a hinge on it for easy fold up when it’s not raining and for your convenience when mowing the lawn.

Seamless Aluminum Gutters

Many of the older homes in Milwaukee were constructed with steel high-back gutters, meaning that flashing and gutters were one piece and nailed to the deck board.  This prevents the gutter pitching to the downspout.  We install seamless aluminum two-piece gutter systems, consisting of a gutter apron and a gutter.  Seamless is a better option than a gutter that is installed in sections because every time you have a break in the gutter, that is a possible leak point.  Another advantage to aluminum is it allows us to pitch the gutter in the direction we need to.

Seamless gutters are rolled out on site.  A machine on our truck holds a roll of aluminum coil at one end and extrudes a formed gutter at the other for the exact amount needed for each individual run of gutter.

In a seamless gutter installation, a miter is necessary to cover a corner and it’s important to ask the contractor what miter system they are using.  There are three completely different ways of doing inside and outside miters – strip, box, or hand miter.  An issue with strip and box miters is that there are multiple leak points.  Some installers will use strip or box miters because it is a faster installation.  At Callen, we do a hand mitered corner where there is one joint versus three and sealed together with a specific type of gutter sealant – OSI® Gutter & Seam Sealant.

For do-it-yourselfers, you never want to use silicone as a sealant because silicone is not designed to be submerged in water.  A lot of times homeowners will call us and tell us they caulked their gutter, but it keeps leaking.  When we check the gutter out, we can literally peal the silicone off like a sticker because it doesn’t seal down.  It’s great in bath or kitchen applications, but it’s not designed to be submerged.  The same holds true for latex caulk.  Using the right product such as OSI will make the sealing last.

Besides aluminum seamless, there are other materials that can be used for gutters.  We get asked about vinyl, but don’t recommend it because vinyl is a soft material that will flex and move.  UV rays will also break it down, releasing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).  In our cold climate, vinyl gets brittle and will break.

Copper gutters are another option.  There are more costly than aluminum, but for a homeowner that wants a unique look or for a classical or historical restoration, copper is available.

Gutter Protection

Gutter protection keeps gutters free of debris and helps with drainage.  There are many gutter protection systems, but we recommend Gutter Topper® for several reasons.  For a secure connection, Gutter Topper gets attached to the front lip of the gutter and under the second row of shingles.  It actually becomes part of the roof system, not the gutter system.  This adds quite a bit of strength to the gutter system and the edge has a finished look.

Gutter Topper comes in 13 different colors so we can match the color of the roof, not the gutter.  If you match the color of the gutter, it makes your gutter look excessively tall and not aesthetically pleasing.

One of the advantages of Gutter Topper is that it will catch 99 percent of the water.  It works off the process of surface tension, so as the water is rolling down the roof, it rolls over the gutter topper, around the nose, and into the gutter.

In the wintertime you will see icicles, an indication that the system is working properly. That’s because when the roof snow melts, it refreezes when it comes in contact with the cold aluminum of Gutter Topper.  Without Gutter Topper, that water would refreeze in the trough where it could cause ice damming. (For more on this, read our blog on attic insulation and ventilation posted earlier this month.).

One of the most often asked question about gutter protection is what if something gets in there.  That isn’t an issue; if something is small enough to get into the gutter, it is small enough to wash itself out.

No gutter protection system, no matter the brand, is totally maintenance free.  Gutter Topper will have to be washed down once in a while because debris can get stuck on the front lip.  That will cause dripping as water follows the path of least resistance, which is how Gutter Topper works.

Gutter Topper can be retrofit and installed over steel, copper, and aluminum.  It comes in five-foot sections and is screwed down.  Another benefit of Gutter Topper is if a tree branch comes down and damages it, we can replace that five-foot section. There are other products that are full run, which can be very expensive to replace.

Any time a homeowner does a roof, it’s a good idea to do gutters.  If you are planning to do soffit, fascia, siding, and especially if the gutters are 15 to 20 years old, or if they are the old high-back steel, it’s time to replace them.

One of the services we offer is a check of your system.  We don’t upsell or tell you it’s time to replace a gutter if it’s not necessary.  We’ll tell you if you have five more years left, or if all you need is a minor repair or a repitch.  A lot of times we can maintain and reuse those gutters, especially adding bigger downspouts to help with drainage.