Types Of Guttering
Although guttering may not be the most attractive part of a property, functionally it has a very important job as it gathers up all rainwater from the roof and redirects it down the downpipes and into the drainage system. With out a guttering system water would just run down the fascia boards and the front of the building, damaging timber and brickwork. Penetrating the only defence a property has can cause great expense to the owner.
Picking the right Guttering system to replace the damaged one is very important, they come in a various designs, sizes and made out of many different materials. Size is important depending on the area of the roof, the number and positions of the downpipes. However, when replacing old gutter the same size can be used, especially if the old gutters had not been causing any problems. There are many shapes to compliment most types of building and most can be painted if required.
Guttering can be made out of many different materials including Plastic, Cast Iron, Aluminum, Lead, Copper, Wood, and Concrete along with many other materials. Plastic and Aluminum being the most popular with others being normally used on older properties. The most common has to be Plastic, it is quite light it can be found in most DIY stores. With the right equipment and knowledge it can be fitted by the homeowner quite easily with normal household tools.
However, Plastic guttering does have its drawbacks it comes in relatively short lengths and unions (joiners) are used to join lengths together. These unions and running outlets have rubber seals, which have the potential to leak as the lengths of gutter expand and contract during the warm and cold weather. A 20-metre length of plastic guttering with 2 downpipes can find it's self with 12 rubber seals all of which are prone to leak. Plastic Guttering does not normally come with a warranty against discolouring and after a couple of years the darker colours like Black and Brown may discolour badly.
Aluminum Seamless Guttering is getting more and more popular as an alternative to Plastic, Not available at the local DIY Store but has one great advantage when compared to plastic as it's name suggests, it is Seamless, rolled on site from a machine, straight lengths of gutter of any length can be put up without a joint, internal Bracket hangers fitted at the right intervals gives the gutter incredible strength and will easily support a laden ladder. Aluminum Seamless Guttering has a longer life expectancy and because it is fully recyclable Aluminum it's friendly to the environment. This gutter system has many advantages like coming with a long warranty but the biggest has to be that being seamless there are no joints, which means no leaks!
Steve Roberts has been fitting Rainwater Systems for 20 years running his own company in the UK, For futher information on Guttering can be found at http://www.spaguttering.co.uk
