Eavestroughs & Downpipes – The overlooked roof components

It rains 15 milliliters on your roof.  Doesn’t sound like too much, right?  But when you consider the average roof size, that could add up to over 7000 liters of water.  7000 liters of relentless water washing off your eaves into your eavestroughs.  And that’s just one heavy rain storm of many to come.  Have you made the mistake of not extending your downspout before it starts?  Now you’ve got a small crater receding by the side of your house.  Yeah, not a good place to have water building up.

Are eavestroughs necessary?  Well they definitely help channel water ultimately down several downpipes and away from your home.  If you don’t have them, you’re allowing the water to run freely.  If the water is not managed or channeled, it can put your home at more risk for water penetration.  Also depending on where you live, local code may dictate there requirement.

When it comes to eavestroughs, yes, you need a good product and contractor to install it.  But, let’s face it, it requires some regular maintenance to maximize the life and protection of your home.  We’ll discuss how do you keep your eavestroughs clean and regular maintenance, review product selection, common mistakes and why you should choose us!

Maintenance

What can you do to ensure the longest life from your eavestroughs and avoid unnecessary repairs? Well when you start doing your annual spring cleaning, add this to the list!  Giving some attention to this part of your roof will help you out in the long run.  Even a fall cleaning before the winter, just adds to regular maintenance to avoid future problems.

  • Overtime eavestroughs can get a lot of buildup of various debris.  For areas that you can safely climb up to on a ladder, check in the eavestrough. Any significant build up will cause blockages that can lead to other issues.
  • Use a garden hand shovel to carefully remove any build up, ensuring that the drains to the downpipes are open.
  • Use a garden hose to wash away whatever is left. The water should drain properly down the pipe.
  • Carefully hammer in any loose eavestrough nails back into the fascia.
  • If your eavestroughing is still in excellent condition, have a leaf-guard installed. This will prevent any new buildup of leaves in the fall.
  • Tighten any screws where the downpipe connects to the eavestrough. Over time, these screws can loosen, causing the downpipe to fall off.
  • If possible, open any downpipes that have been stepped on and crushed at the ground.

The Product selection

If your eavestroughs have had it and their lifespan is about up, here’s a few things on current products. There are many different types of gutters and downspouts that have made their way in the market from time to time such as vinyl, copper, aluminum, zinc etc.  However, the most popular type and one we install the most is a 5” 26 Gauge steel product.  Its galvanized exterior helps protect from rusting.   Available in a wide range of colours.

26 Gauge Eavetrough

5” 26 Gauge Aluminum Eavestrough

There can several different accessories depending on the build of your home and what’s required or recommended.  Some homeowners add on a Leafguard.

Some Common Mistakes

Have you ever seen this?

black shingle stain
Yellow shingle stain

It’s extra wear and tear on your shingles and will drastically shorten the life in that area of your roof.  A simple fix is just extending the pipe so that water flows to next eavestrough.

Even Mike Holmes that famous Canadian contractor posted a tip this week.  “Where a downspout drops water onto a separate section of the roof before hitting another gutter. You always want that water to be draining away from your home”.

Take a look at his post.

Choose Jayson Global

We have experienced eavestrough installers!  Having done well over 30 years of business, we’ve installed our fair share of eavestroughs!  Call Jayson Global Roofing Inc. today and one of our seasoned estimators would be happy to go over your next project.  Click Here for a Free Estimate!

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