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Roof Repair Advice

If your roof is in need of urgent repair, you have come to the right place. I am not a roofing contractor, but I have just finished replacing the roof on my home when the old one failed. The contractor I called in helped me to assess the condition of my old roof and to choose the right type of material to replace it with. He carried out the work quickly and kept me informed about what he was doing. I have learnt so much from the experience that I wanted to share my new found knowledge with the rest of the world.

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What You Need to Know About a Home's Guttering System

by Krin Rodriguez

Your home's gutters may not seem very important, and you may not even think of them until they overflow or outright break, but gutters are actually critical to your home's overall structure and safety. Gutters direct rainwater from the roof to the home's downspouts, so that water doesn't run down the home's exterior walls or pool around the foundation. This protects the home from potential water damage, leaks, and other such major issues. To ensure your home's guttering system is in good repair, note a few factors to consider about how these pieces and this system itself works overall.

What are seamless gutters and how are they made?

Standard gutters will come in a set number of lengths, and they are then cut to fit your home. These separate pieces of gutters will be attached to each other with clamps or bolts, forming seams where they're joined together.

Seamless gutters are one long, continuous piece that are made to fit your home's roof precisely. These gutters are usually made with a special type of softened material that is put through a press, and that then extrudes the gutter piece, making it as long as needed. Each piece may be trimmed and shaped around barriers or corners of the roof, but this seamless design usually means less water leaks from the gutters overall.

What is guttering gauge?

Gauge refers to the thickness of metals or wires, so a gutter's gauge will indicate the thickness of its metal material. This is important to note, as many gutters are made of aluminium, which is very lightweight. A thin aluminium gutter may pull away from the home's roof more easily than a thick and heavy gutter, as a thin gutter won't be able to hold the weight of water and other debris. This thicker gauge may be more expensive, but it can be the right choice for a home with heavy rainfall, or if there are trees that hang over your home's roof and which create debris from leaves, seeds, acorns, and the like.

What are pitched gutters?

Gutters need to be directed downward just slightly, toward the home's downspouts, to encourage water to flow in that direction. Pitched gutters are those that start in the centre of the roof, and then are angled downward to the left and the right, forming a reverse V. This is usually done for very long gutters, so that the slope doesn't become too steep once they reach the downspouts.

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