Some children ask more than 300 questions per day, according to a study. We will venture a guess that not one of those 300+ kid questions is, “Why are gutters important?” Homeowners may have plenty of questions about the cost-versus-value of gutters, but not kids. Let’s find out if you even need gutters on your Sacramento-area home.
Must Haves
Gutters are doing their best work when you never notice them. So you naturally may wonder if your home’s gutters are really doing anything at all.
Short answer: Yes. They are working to protect your home from rooftop to foundations, day in and day out. Gutters are the last portion of your home’s complete roofing system. They channel water off your roof and away from your home’s foundations.
The nearly horizontal gutter sections prevent water from falling straight down into the soil directly adjacent to your concrete or cement block foundations. The downspouts direct the water out into your yard (the drainage field), where ample surface area can handle the flow.
Here and There
Gutters do not go everywhere on your home. The pitched roof sections meet at ridges. Your home’s exterior walls rise in gables to fill those pitched, triangular-shaped areas. Along the gable ends, you need no gutters.
Anywhere a roof section comes down to meet an exterior wall, you need gutters. Normally your home’s roof overhangs the exterior walls, forming eaves. The eave edges are covered with fascia, horizontal boards onto which the gutters are attached. Without fascia boards, your roof would be open to invasive pests (rodents, insects, birds). With fascia boards, your roof is sealed to intruders and you have a handy place to attach gutters.
Temperate climates such as the Sacramento area mean many types of precipitation and a constant call for gutters. You may have relatives or friends living in drier, desert areas. Their homes may not need gutters, but yours definitely does.
Rain Chains?
Some Sacramento-area homeowners may be hoping for alternatives to gutters and downspouts. Letting rainwater soak the ground by your foundations is simply not an option. Wet foundations are weak foundations. They are also extremely expensive to repair.
You may ask yourself, “Do I really need gutters on my house?”
Another short answer: you really do. Nothing can replace the nearly horizontal gutters at the lowest point of your roofing system. So, can something be done with downspouts? The only possible alternatives, and not very feasible ones, are rain chains. These melodic music-makers allow rainwater to trickle down over loosely connected metal surfaces, eventually to empty into a catch basin, rain barrel, or French drain.
Rain chains are a risky proposition if you prize your home’s curb appeal and resale value. Rain chains have to be maintained scrupulously. Your foundations have to be checked often. And for many folks, the tinkling musicality is enjoyable for the first five minutes; then it’s just annoying.
Home Value
Most homeowners recognize the tremendous investment they make in their home. They want to protect the investment and ensure top dollar when they resell their home. Effective, efficient gutters and downspouts contribute a lot to maintaining your home’s value.
For the low, one-time cost of having professionally formed, seamless gutters installed on your home, you reap the benefits for years and years:
- Your attic’s relative humidity matches the outside air humidity
- Insects and rodents are discouraged from setting up housekeeping in your attic space
- Fascia boards remain solid, dry, and attractive
- Your landscaping stays properly hydrated
- Your home’s foundations stay dry and intact
- Neighbors and potential buyers recognize your home’s curb appeal
- Topsoil remains in place, not washed away
Why? Why? Why?
Every parent knows a child’s favorite question is simply, “Why?” But here’s a real “Why?” question: why should you talk to a gutter installation contractor about the need for gutters on your house? The contractor simply wants your business, right?
Wrong. They want your immediate business and years of return business, too. No reputable gutter contractor will risk destroying a customer relationship by using abusive sales methods:
- Upselling (pricing you out of affordable and into poverty)
- Lowball estimates which turn into high costs
- Sale prices good for one day only
- Snow job (too much technical jargon and too many numbers)
A reputable gutter installer will be happy to answer all your questions, discuss the many ways gutters preserve home value, and provide you with realistic, affordable gutter system solutions.
Right Call
Once you are convinced gutters are a valuable and necessary asset to your house, you need the right contractor to install the right gutters. This means making the right call, to us at Straight Line Construction. When you contact us, we will assist with every aspect of gutter selection, including color, size, style, and protective gutter guards.
