The gutters are one of the most important parts of your roof system. They guide water away from the building and stop it from damaging your home.  If it’s time for you to replace your gutters, check out this information-packed slideshow by This Old House for gutter styles, materials and instructions on how to install them.

What to Ask Yourself
As you’re shopping for your gutters, ask yourself the following questions.

What’s my budget?
Some materials cost more than others.

How much maintenance do I want to do?
The slideshow linked above illustrates various types of leaf guards available.

DIY or hire someone?
Although some installation can be done on your own, there are some situations where you’ll want to hire someone to put your new gutters in for you.  Gutters are an important part of maintaining your roof as well as protecting your home’s foundation, so you want to make sure they’re properly installed.  If you don’t have gutter experience, this might be a job better left to a professional.

What style do I want?
Minneapolis homes each have unique characters, and gutters can be customized to match.

Replacing your old gutters with new ones will save you from the expense and inconvenience of water damage.

There are always plenty of tasks on your spring to-do list, from cleaning house to readying the yard for the summer growing season. While you’re checking off “inspect the roof” from the list, give your gutters some attention, too.

Clogs
When your gutters get clogged, the backed up water could damage your roof and underlying wood. A good problem area to start with is the downspout. Most clogged downspouts can be cleared by spraying water up them to dislodge the debris.

If the clog is especially stubborn, a toilet snake might do the trick. If worst comes to worst, you may have to remove the entire section to more easily spot the problem.

Cleaning
Springtime is a great time to clean gutters, since snow melt always leaves behind dirt. If you have a lot of trees on your property, cleaning is an important part of keeping your home in good shape.

Another advantage to cleaning is that damage becomes more visible. Things to watch out for include the following.

• Sagging
• Cracks
• Damaged or missing fasteners
• Holes
• Corrosion

Some gutters may be sloping in the wrong direction, as well. This causes problems because water is being routed into the house instead of away from it. When this happens, your home is more prone to mold, mildew and wood rot.

Fixing the Problems
You should be able to fix minor problems, like small cracks, yourself. This is usually less expensive than having someone else do it for you, and can save you the frustration involved in larger home repairs.

Most home improvement stores sell gutter sealers and waterproofing products for this purpose. Before you apply them according to the provided directions, make sure the gutter is dried thoroughly and sanded.

However, if your problems are too big to fix yourself, or you’re not comfortable with the task, there are professional available to help you mend the damage.

Quarve Contracting, Inc. installs and repairs seamless gutters in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area. 

That snow and ice on your roof will soon give way to raindrops, so now is a good time to make sure your gutters are ready for the first heavy storm.  Early spring rains often fall before the ground has thoroughly frozen, so having your gutters and downspouts in good working order is imp0rtant to ensure that all the water gets directed away from your home’s foundation where it’s likely to simply pool up and stand, possibly leaking into your basement or causing foundation problems.

Gutters may seem like a minor building component, but they serve a much greater function than keeping the water from dripping onto your head as you come and go from your doorway.  Gutters and downspouts – also known as a rain-handling system – perform the important task of directing running water where you want it to go, rather than letting it follow its own path.  When rain falls on a roof without gutters, it simply cascades down the side of the house, puddling up at the foundation.  That running water can cause problems for the roof edge as well as the soffit and fascia, and most certainly can result in foundation decay and wet basements.  Professionally-installed and well-maintained gutters, on the other hand, catch the water and direct it to downspouts, which have extensions on the end to funnel the water out into the yard away from the home.  In some cases, homeowners even install rain barrels under the downspouts to catch the rainwater for garden and lawn use.  Or you may have a culvert system set up to move the water off your lawn altogether to prevent wet areas and landscape washout.

Spring rains can be heavy, and so we recommend that you have your gutters inspected before the first big storm to make sure that they are in good condition.  Winter winds as well as heavy snow and ice can sometimes dislodge or distort gutters, which impairs their functioning.  In order for a gutter to work properly, a slow but steady drop toward the downspout opening must be maintained.  Any dents can impair that.  And what’s worse, winter storms might have resulted in holes or cracks in your gutters, meaning the rain will drip (or run, depending on the size of the hole) at the spot of the damage.  Lastly, your gutters might be clogged with winter debris such as old decayed leaves.

Your roof protects your home, and your gutters protect your roof edge as well as the outside walls and foundation.  Make sure your gutters are ready for spring weather – schedule an inspection today so that you can beat Mother Nature to the punch and get repairs or replacement taken care of ahead of time. 

We usually don’t think about gutters at this time of year.  After all, aren’t gutters meant to handle rain?  Yes and no.  Gutters and downspouts – also referred to as a rain-handling system – function mainly to water running off your roof away from the house and the ground around the foundation.  In warmer weather that’s rain, but in the winter your gutters also need to be in top working order to handle melting snow.  Snow melt on the roof occurs both when the air temperature is above freezing, but also on days when the sun warms the roof enough to melt the snow.  Unfortunately it can also happen in colder weather if your attic is too warm and produces a warm spot on the upper portion of the roof.  That also causes snow melt, but the danger is that because the air temperature is below freezing, that melting snow will re-freeze at the roof edge and in the gutters, causing an ice dam.  An ice dam could mean an emergency roof repair to stop or prevent a water leak.  Ice dam removal should be handled by a professional – there are all kinds of home remedies out there, but most can cause damage to your roof or your gutters.  And they’re dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Ice dams and snow-laden gutters are common problems in the Twin Cities.  Gutters need to be kept clear and the downspout openings free of blockage so that melting snow can continue to flow and not back up in the gutters, where it will re-freeze.  Gutters heavy with snow and ice will eventually pull away, damaging not only the gutter but possibly the soffit and fascia in the process.   Be sure to keep your gutters clear of debris.  Leaf and other materials blocking water flow in a gutter is a significant factor in ice dam build-up.

Sometimes gutters are also inadvertently damaged in the winter by the use of roof rakes.  If you choose to rake snow off your roof, be careful that you don’t snag the edge of the gutter and pull it loose or bend it.

If your gutters have been damaged by ice or heavy snow this winter, it’s a good idea to get the repairs made now.  Unfortunately it doesn’t look like winter is completely over, and when the spring rains set in you’ll want that rain-handling system working well.  Quarve Contracting installs and repairs seamless gutters.