More Than Just A roofing Company

New Gutter Installation

Origin Exteriors are your local gutter installation experts. Homeowners often take their gutter system for granted. When your gutters and downspouts are working effectively it’s easy to forget they are even there. But if your gutters are not doing their job, it could lead to long term water damage to the walls of your home, erosion around the base of your foundation and even water seeping into your basement.

How To Know if Your Gutters Should be Replaced

When working properly, your gutters and downspouts will take the rainwater that falls on your roof and move it safely away from the base of your home. Are you wondering about the condition of your gutters? Look for any of these warning signs that could indicate they are in need of replacement:

Cracks in Gutters
Water Pooling Around House
Missing Nails / Fasteners
Sagging Gutters
Rust on Gutters
Water Stains On Siding

Have you noticed any of the above problems with your gutter system? Any of those signs could be indicators that your gutters are nearing the end of their lifespan and may not be effectively protecting your home from water damage, and you may benefit from new gutter installation.

Hail from severe weather can damage your gutters, as can debris and tree branches that may blow down in heavy winds. But your gutters can also just have long term wear that causes them to stop working effectively.

The most popular gutter styles for residential and commercial properties.

K-Style Gutter

The K-Style Gutter will complement the look of your home. K-Style gutters mimic the look of crown moldings, adding a modern touch to any home’s aesthetic. Choosing a color that complements or accents the trim and/or shutters on your home is easy with these gutters. The K-Style Gutters are flush against the wall and have bends and folds in the metal to provide a rigid structure. This makes them more durable than a half-round gutter and they are the cheapest option available. They are also easy to install and their performance is good during heavy rain. The modern look of these gutters is an added bonus.

Half-Round Gutters

In older style homes, half-round gutters are more common. Half-Round gutters are half of a circular pipe with the top half open for water collection. Generally made of copper, half-round gutters gradually develop a patina over time, making them look rustic. However, they are also available in aluminum, vinyl, and galvanized steel for a more modern aesthetic. With half-round gutters, the inner part of the gutter is completely smooth, so it is less likely for the metal to corrode or rust as there is no place for it to stand or pool up. Half-round gutters are less likely to clog because there are no creases or hardware on the inside, so debris has a clear path.

Box Gutters

A box gutter is an oversized gutter used primarily for commercial and industrial buildings. Traditional gutters are hung on a roof edge, but box gutters feature a high back section that tucks under the roofing shingles to handle large amounts of water from larger roofs. To prevent water from entering the building along the roof edge, box gutters must be installed during construction. If you were to install these on an older building, you would still have to replace the shingles on the roof.

Gutter Systems

Sectional Gutter Systems

Aluminum sectional gutters are the strongest gutter system available for residential construction. Free-floating hanging system and engineered expansion joints ensure sectional gutters hold tight even when temperatures change. Due to the connection between the pieces of sectional gutters, seams are present. These seams are prone to leaks and are a hotbed for debris to accumulate and clogs to form. It is essential to maintain and clean gutters to prevent damage caused by clogs or collection of debris on sectional gutter seams.

Seamless Gutter Systems

In seamless gutter systems, there are no seams or joints that connect multiple sections of the gutter system. Seamless gutters are made up of one continuous piece of material to prevent leaks and clogs. There are several advantages to seamless gutters, such as low maintenance, custom-made gutters, and aesthetic appeal. Because they are not partitioned into sections, they are more resistant to leaks and damage, which makes them more durable and low maintenance than regular gutters. Aluminum, steel, and copper are some of the standard gutter materials available for seamless gutters.

The most common type of gutters used on residential homes in Ohio are prefabricated aluminum hanging gutters. A gutter system consists of components such as end caps, drop tubes, miters, hangers, sealants, splash guards, downspouts, and elbows. An extrusion machine known as a roll former is used to run these gutters from an aluminum coil through rollers that form the metal into the final product. Gutters that are not adequately sized, do not drain properly, or allow water to get behind the back of the gutter can cause issues with your home. These issues can lead to your fascia boards deteriorating and rotting out, your landscaping being displaced, soffits being damaged, and can even allow water to erode your foundation. Residential drainage systems also contain water diverters which ensure that water flows into the gutter. Water diverters are most commonly found at valley sections, behind chimneys, and at rake edges where the installation of a gutter is not possible.

Gutter and downspout systems are designed to withstand rainfall intensity based on historical data. In Ohio a 100-year storm can yield a rainfall intensity interval of 9.4 inches per hour (for a 5-minute duration). Origin Exteriors takes this historical data, the size of your roof system, and the configurations of downspouts and drains to calculate the size of gutters and downspouts that will perform the best during heavy rainfall.

There are multiple factors to consider for gutter and downspout design. The first factor is the width of the gutter. As a roof’s slope becomes steeper the likelihood of water overshooting a gutter increases causing the need for a wider gutter. Most homes are installed with either 5 or 6-inch gutters. Other considerations include the roof area draining to the gutter, the slope of the roof system, and the pitch of the gutter as well.

The typical gutter on a residential roof has a slope ranging from level to ½ inch of fall per foot of gutter. It is important to note that gutters with a steeper pitch drain much better than those that are installed level but are also unaesthetic and appear uneven on the home.

The number and sizes of downspouts are also a very important consideration when designing a residential gutter system in Ohio. Drainage capacities of downspouts depend on both the width and shape of the downspout. Some of the most common sizes and shapes of downspouts and their drainage capacities are listed below.

3” Round Downspout drains 1,260 square feet of steep slope roofing
4” Round Downspout drains 2,630 square feet of steep slope roofing
2”x3” Rectangular Downspout drains approximately 725 square feet of steep slope roofing
3”x4” Rectangular Downspout drains approximately 1775 square feet of steep slope roofing

Underground drainage pipes, or the lack thereof, are also an important consideration when it comes to proper gutter and downspout drainage. The most common sizes for underground drainage pipes are either 3” or 4” round. The drainage capacity of downspouts cannot be greater than the drainage capacity of the underground pipes. Therefore, if the underground drainage system consists of a 3-inch pipe, any downspout larger than 3 inches would not reach its full drainage capacity. Conversely, if the underground pipe is 4 inches and the downspouts are 3 inches, the drainage capacity of the system will be limited to the 3” downspout.

Sometimes there are no underground drainage pipes in which case the area where a downspout is being installed needs to be carefully selected. This careful selection comes from the need to get water away from the foundation of your home. Over time water can slowly erode the strongest of minerals.

Gutter and Downspout Installation Process

Gutters are measured and custom fabricated to meet the construction of your home. A Origin Exteriors installer will typically extrude a gutter onsite with a roll forming machine. Measuring and custom fabricating gutters onsite ensure that your new gutter system will be seamless. Any seams in straight gutter runs are subject to failures and premature leaks. The most common style of gutter that is used on a residential home in Louisville and Southern Indiana is “K” style gutters. Other gutters that are commonly used are half-round gutters, box gutters, and Yankee gutters.

Gutter Guards

Gutter guards have increased in popularity since their inception. The idea behind a gutter guard is to alleviate debris build-up in your gutter system to minimize or eliminate the need for cleaning your gutters. Another focus from a gutter guard is to keep underground drains and tiles free from clogs. Clogs in underground drains can cause failures which lead to expensive underground work that can require digging the pipe up to repair it.

Leaf Relief Total Gutter Protection System mounts to the top of your new or existing gutter system. It is designed to lock onto the front lip of your gutter while perforated metal accompanied by an engineered vinyl flap keeps debris from being able to get behind the system. This allows it to have a low profile that is not seen from the ground in most applications.

Leaf relief is 100% effective at blocking leaves, 99% effective at blocking twigs and 97% effective at blocking pine needles. The system does not come in contact with your shingles or require any fasteners through your roof that could cause issues down the road.

When leaves and debris are not obstructing your Leaf Relief Total Gutter Protection System, the drainage capacity is 29.7 inches of water per hour (20 foot roof section). That’s nearly 3 times the drainage capacity that would occur in a 100 year storm in Louisville or Southern Indiana. When leaves and debris do obstruct water flow, 19 inches of water per hour still passes through the Leaf Relief system. (Almost 2 times the capacity of the 100 year storm calculation).

Maintenance to this gutter protection system is rarely required as most dry debris will blow off in a 6 mph wind. Wet debris will blow off at around a 23mph wind. Leaf relief acts similarly to a banister or railing on a deck. When leaves build up, a light wind event will blow the leaves off.