You may not be aware of this, but gutter systems have a long and storied history of combining fashion with function. The most obvious example were gargoyles, whose presence on buildings and churches did more than just ward off evil spirits or improve the structures’ appearances; they also strategically hid the drainage downspouts from the naked eye.
Nowadays, people are finding other ways to express their creativity through gutter installation. Here are eight of the best efforts we found.
If you’re concerned about debris clogging up your gutters, then you may want to consider a system of gutter protectors. These are usually gutter covers of some sort that are designed to keep out leaves and needles while allowing water to freely drain into the gutters.
If you’ve already started looking for gutter protectors, you’re probably well aware that there are various brands and types of gutter protectors to choose from. Here are five questions to ask yourself before purchasing one.
The autumn season is commonly known as “fall” for a reason. That’s because it’s the time when all those beautiful leaves on your stately trees suddenly decide to cascade down onto the surface of your yard. It’s bad enough that you have to spend your time raking, blowing, and gathering leaves throughout the fall. But the fact that many of them get stuck in your gutters and cause rainwater to spill onto the ground is enough to make you yearn for an apartment lifestyle.
How can you get some “leaf relief” for your gutters? Here are four tips:
Ah, yes – “no-clog gutters”: the Holy Grail of home drainage systems. If you could just find those elusive no-clog gutters, then most of your water runoff problems will simply wash away – literally. But is it really possible to have true no-clog gutters on your home?
Image: ghclark.com
Judging by the ads you see on the Internet, no-clog gutters are just a phone call or email away. Many companies and contractors market their products and services with the “no-clog” moniker, and a few even offer some sort of warranty or guarantee. But do they work as well as advertised?
Some of the simplest — yet most wondrous — parts of nature are the leaves that decorate our trees. They augment the beauty of spring and provide vibrant color during the autumn months. Yes, leaves are beautiful … until they fall into our gutters, that is. Then they become troublesome rubbish. ]
Image: gutterworks.com
Everyone wants leafless gutters, but accomplishing that goal can be difficult. Unless you enjoy teetering on a ladder and scraping wet, soggy debris out of your gutters a few times a year, consider one of these seven alternatives for achieving leafless gutters:
Installing a gutter is expensive even during the best of times. But for some people, it can get really, really costly. How costly? Try $10,000 … or even more. Here are three situations where your gutters will cost you a pretty penny.
Concrete Construction
Fortunately, we rarely run into this in home design, possibly because most people don’t enjoy a home that feels a bit like a prison. But it’s still a major concern: concrete doesn’t like water more than any other building material. As anybody with a flooded basement or a driveway knows all too well, concrete tends to crack and erode when exposed to large amounts of water over time. Of special concern are the joints of an all-concrete structure: a gutter design has to specifically funnel as much water as possible away from those areas.
There are lots of ways to know if your gutters aren’t doing their job, from the obvious to the subtle. There are some signs we can all catch, even if we’re not the most handy. But what about the more subtle ones? We’ll start with some of the obvious ones and work our way down to the ones that are harder to spot.
Water spilling out of your gutters. This is the most obvious sign that something’s wrong. If you look out the window and a waterfall seems to be coming off your roof, it’s time to look into getting those blocks cleared.
Wally Conway is an expert on homes. He first got involved in home inspections in 1994, and has since inspected an amazing 5,000 houses. He’s also the founder of HomePro (www.GoHomePro.com), which as a company has inspected over 25,000 homes! Recently we had users from our Facebook and Twitter Facebook accounts submit questions to Wally about gutters and home improvement; here are the best.
What are the three most common “unpleasant surprises” that homeowners get during their home inspection?
Installing and cleaning your gutters is a risky business. We like to pretend that’s not the case, but the simple act of getting on a ladder can put you at risk of serious injury. Here are the three most common worst case scenarios, and how to avoid them:
1. Electrical Wiring Issues
One problem any gutter installer has to be careful of: electrical wiring. True, any halfway decent electrician has installed the wires properly, and the wires themselves are properly shielded to avoid electrocution. But that doesn’t mean electrical wires can be ignored, or that they aren’t dangerous.
Petty theft has always been a problem in this country, but it seems to become more common when the economy is sluggish. This is especially true in the subcategory of metal theft. Because of the value of recycled metal, thieves will pilfer almost any type of metal – from raw materials like wiring, flashing, and sheet metal to finished products such as fencing, manhole covers… and gutters. Yes, gutters.
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