Gutters are a critical piece of your home’s water management system. Minus any gutters, you will undoubtedly wind up with water damage on your roof as well as adjacent areas of your home’s interior and exterior.
Okay, no problem, your home has a gutter system. However, Pittsburgh’s thunderstorm season can be fierce. When the rain comes pouring down out of the western Pennsylvania skies, are your present gutters up to the task of guiding all that water gently off your roof and away from your foundation?
If they’re not, it’s time to consider your options. At Pittsburgh-based Schultheis Brothers, we install high-quality, custom, seamless gutters for your home to help keep it structurally sound despite deluges from intense storms.
In spite of this, many homeowners don’t know about the benefits of seamless gutters. This is particularly true if they’ve never replaced their gutters and are suffering from older sectional gutters that are leaking, sagging, or rusting.
True, sectional gutters are the traditional pick among homeowners mostly because they are more economical. However, most gutter contractors, including the pros at Schultheis Brothers, will recommend a seamless gutter system. As you’ll see, high-performance seamless gutters provide a variety of benefits to homeowners who opt to install them on their property.
What is the chief difference between seamless vs. sectional gutters?
Before reviewing the benefits of seamless gutters, let’s first take a glance at the chief differences between the more traditional sectional and contemporary seamless gutters.
The major distinction between these two types of gutter systems is fairly straightforward—sectional gutters are installed in sections with a visible seam between each gutter piece.
In contrast, seamless gutters are installed in a continuous system and constructed from one solid piece of material. A gutter installation company will employ a dedicated machine, usually onsite, to unroll gutter materials seamlessly along the edge of your house’s roof. This means that your new seamless gutters are assured to have the most specific measurements, allowing them to work effectively in dispersing water away from your roof and home. Remember, when gutters fit well, they function well!
Yes, seamless gutters have a higher installation cost, but the return on investment will make installation worthwhile.
Here’s where the rubber meets the road . . . the case for seamless gutters.
Advantages of installing seamless gutters on your home:
Seamless gutters experience fewer leaks
Sectional gutters employ joints where two sections meet, and as time goes on, spaces between the sections can develop and expand, with rainwater leaking through. Every joint is a potential water leak.
No doubt, you’ve seen gutters that drip and leak during downpours, leaving behind puddles surrounding the foundation of a house, bringing about additional problems.
This issue practically disappears with well-crafted seamless gutters.
Seamless gutters undergo fewer clogs and backups
With an abundance of seams and joints, it’s not uncommon for gutters to also experience clogs. Over time, buildups, such as twigs, leaves, nuts, and animal nests will lead to a number of difficulties. This buildup paves the way to blockages making it harder for water to move through properly. Large blockages can result in water overflow and uncontrolled runoff that can damage the roof, foundation, and landscaping of your home.
Unlike sectional gutters, seamless gutters lack lips and joints where debris often piles up. This is a huge advantage for any homeowner as it means much less maintenance throughout the year.
Note: Along with choosing seamless gutters for your home, you might also want to consider installing leaf guards to prevent leaves and twigs from clogging your gutters and downspouts.
Seamless gutters offer simple installation
A sectional gutter installation is a job that’s normally left in the capable hands of professional installers as it includes measuring and cutting gutters down to size. The process entails the correct training and know-how to make sure they all fit together properly.
The same goes with seamless gutters, but the process is much easier because most of it is performed onsite. Installers simply feed the roll of material into a machine, which then extrudes the gutters up to the exact dimensions measured beforehand. Your seamless gutter installation is a guaranteed custom fit for your home.
How about DIY?
Thinking of making a gutter installation a DIY project? Yes, doing it yourself is great for some things: homemade cookies, oil changes on your car, and so forth. Doing it yourself is never a good idea for anything that requires a ladder, because you create the risk of a fall. DIY gutters are also a bad idea due to the numerous opportunities for failure. Sure, cobbling together a random assortment of sheet metal from the local big-box store is rewarding. Once installed on your home, however, how do you think it will look?
Unless you install gutters for a living, it’s somewhat doubtful that you’ll do a very good job. Keep in mind, not only are gutters essential for drainage, but they also have a visual impact on your home.
Seamless gutters require less maintenance
Regardless of the type of gutters you’re having installed, you’ll have to perform at least a bit of maintenance work. This helps to prevent things such as clogging, which can be devastating for your roof if left unchecked.
As just noted, unlike traditional sectional gutters, seamless gutters don’t accumulate the same volume of debris. With far fewer areas where leaves, dirt, and ick can get caught, seamless gutters don’t often get clogged with debris. That means fewer trips up the ladder to unclog them. This is a massive advantage for any homeowner because it means much less maintenance throughout the year.
True, with any gutter system, you’ll need to check for clogs on occasion, but you will be amazed at how much less frequently seamless gutters clog than regular gutters do.
It also means you won’t have as many critters seeking shelter in your gutters.
Seamless gutters have a longer lifespan
Did you know that seamless gutters are also longer lasting than most other types of gutters? That’s because seamless gutters are much better equipped to handle severe elements, which means they won’t wear away as quickly as other types of gutters.
By eliminating the weak points that other gutters have, namely, the seams and the various screws and mechanisms used to connect the sections, seamless gutters are longer-lasting by design. The longevity of seamless gutters will leave much more leftover cash in your pocket after cutting down on maintenance and gutter repair costs.
Seamless gutters are also typically much stronger
Such gutters that come from a gutter machine are usually contractor grade and available in .027” and .032” thicknesses. Sectional gutters purchased from large box stores are typically constructed from a material with a thickness of .024”. These gutters can be more than 20 percent thinner than the contractor-grade gutters and thus will not hold up to the elements over time nearly as well.
How long will they last? Seamless gutters typically require replacing every 20 to 30 years, but they can last much longer with the proper amount of care.
Seamless gutters are custom-built and installed
Seamless gutters are planned to fit your home, with custom materials installed in custom lengths. No other home in your neighborhood will have exactly the same gutter system when you opt for custom-made seamless gutters.
Seamless gutters are an attractive choice because they are sleek, smooth, and lack the gaps between joints commonly seen in sectional gutters. Many find them more aesthetically appealing than sectional gutters. Worn seams and rust are an eyesore, that’s why so many homeowners prefer the look of seamless gutters on their homes. Not only do they maintain their quality longer, but they appear more uniform and blend in with your home’s design.
Moreover, they will fit perfectly to the lines and angles of your home’s roofline and unique geography. The experienced gutter specialists at Schultheis Brothers will design your seamless gutter system specifically for your home and its needs, giving you the best possible defense against rainwater and structural dangers from water flooding your foundation.
Homeowners have also discovered that seamless gutters are an excellent choice for those who wish to match their gutter system to their home’s siding. Seamless gutters come in an impressive range of colors to suit your unique needs and preferences, so you can choose a style that complements your house’s existing color scheme,
Keep in mind, too, that installing seamless gutters can boost your home’s value. A huge benefit of installing seamless gutters on your home is that they are an excellent investment and will stay in place for many years to come. The improved aesthetics and functionality can make your home more appealing to buyers should you ever decide to sell.
Here’s the sense and cents of seamless gutters
Let’s face it. While we’ve discussed aesthetics, gutters are really not meant to be stylish items. You don’t replace your gutters every two years to keep up with the Joneses. Yes, gutters installed by trained professionals will add sleek accents in beautiful colors to your home, however, most importantly, they are built to last while whisking away water from your foundations.
By just about any measure, seamless gutters both make sense and save you plenty of cents over sectional gutters. If a sectional gutter fails, and your foundation suffers, imagine the costs you could face:
- Trenching around your home
- Repairing the cracked or damaged foundation
- Sealing the exterior of your foundation
- Backfilling the trenches
- Installing seamless gutters.
Save yourself both money and mental agony by opting for seamless gutters in the first place. Preserve both roof and foundation, avoid water infiltration behind the fascia boards, and keep gutters flowing freely.
Okay, exactly what types of seamless gutters are available?
There are several different types of seamless gutters, the most common of which are detailed here:
- UPVC gutters – fast to install and economical to purchase, UPVC gutters look great on any property and are an outstanding option.
- Aluminum gutters – lasting up to twenty years, aluminum gutters are easy to maintain and extremely weatherproof.
Seamless guttering is available in a range of styles, including European guttering, half-round gutters, fascia guttering, or K-style gutters. The right type of gutter depends on variables such as personal taste, property construction, roof profile, and the anticipated budget.
To seam or not to seam, that is the question!
When it comes down to choosing between sectional and seamless gutters, the benefits of seamless gutters far outweigh those of sectional gutters. Seamless gutters offer a long-lasting, more effective gutter option for your home. The added cost to have a custom seamless gutter system installed on your home is worth it for the added protection seamless gutters can offer.
While you might be able to save a few dollars by installing sectional gutters yourself, you’ll likely end up needing to spend time cleaning and maintaining them, as well as replacing them more often due to leaks or failures. In the end, your investment in seamless gutters will pay off for you and your home.
Schultheis Brothers is proud to offer seamless gutters. That’s because we know they provide our clients with a better product that requires less maintenance and upkeep.