An Overview Of Rain Gutter Installation

It's easy to take rain gutters for granted, but they're an important part of your home's protection system. The gutters protect your roof, siding, and foundation from water damage. When your old gutters sag, are damaged from a storm, or are rusted and leaky, it's time to have new rain gutters installed. Here's an overview of the process.

Remove The Old Gutters And Boards

Once the old gutters and hangers are gone, the installer will assess the condition of the fascia and soffit boards. It's common for the boards to sustain water damage when gutters aren't working properly. If you have some rotted boards, they should be replaced before the new gutters are installed.

Attach The New Hangers

The gutter hangers attach to the fascia boards. They hold the gutters in place. The hangers have to be installed in a slightly sloping fashion so rain will drain from the gutters using gravity. Getting the right slope for the gutters is an important part of rain gutter installation.

Hang The Troughs

When you're choosing the new gutters to have installed, you can choose seamless gutters so the risk of leaking will be reduced. Seamless gutters are a good choice, but if you prefer, you can also have sectional gutters put on. These have to be cut to fit your house, so there will be more seams with these, but the two types of gutters are installed the same way. Before hanging the troughs, the end caps are put on them so rain won't just roll out the opposite end. A hole is made for the downspout and then the troughs are hung and tested. When rain gutter installation is complete, the installer may run water through the troughs to verify the troughs drain properly and that the water comes out of the downspout.

Assemble And Install The Downspout

The downspout will have elbows in it that allows the spout to fit against your house. The elbows have to be assembled to create the downspout so it fits in position and is long enough to drain away from your house. The end of the spout may rest on a splash block or empty into a buried drain. The rain needs to empty far enough away from your house that the water won't get close to your foundation.

Rain gutter installation goes fairly fast, but it can be more difficult if your home has two stories and the installers need to work from ladders high off the ground. The gutter troughs can be challenging to handle, and there are a lot of parts to assemble. However, when finished and installed properly, you can have peace of mind that your home is protected from water damage when it rains.

For more information on rain gutter installation, contact a local roofer.


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