Are Gutters Important?

Here’s a proper response to the question "Are gutters important."

The answer is you can live without gutters. And you may also be able to survive quite nicely without home insurance, obeying speed limits, or reporting income on your tax forms.

But why tempt fate?

Quality Gutter Systems of Boerne, Texas wrote a great article on why they believe gutters are one of the most important part of your home. I have re-printed it here.

Here is Why Gutters Are Important

If you are like most homeowners, you probably do not think about your rain gutters often or realize what an important role they play in keeping your home property safe from water damage. This may be partly due to the illusion that a home is a single solid structure. In fact, your home is made up of multiple components, which makes it vulnerable to damage from rainwater, especially in these key areas:

Where the roof meets the walls. Without effective gutters, wind-driven rain coming off the roof can enter the attic, or travel down inside the exterior walls. On the outside, repeated downpours can ruin the siding, or stain the brick or stone facade.
Around the foundation perimeter. If it is not routed away water runoff can cause shifts in the soil, foundation cracking and interior flooding. If your HVAC ductwork is embedded in the slab, rainwater seepage can cause erosion and mold growth in the ducts.

Ways Gutters Defend Your Home

Here are just some of benefits of ensuring proper rainwater routing with correctly-installed, quality gutters:

Soil around the foundation stays stable, which prevents flooding under the slab, soil erosion and damage to the turf and landscape plantings.
Exterior siding and masonry are protected against damage from repeated downpours of water.
Driveway, sidewalks and patios are less likely to settle or crack.
Roof edge and fascia boards don’t deteriorate.
Risk is reduced for hazardous mold growth in the attic, walls or ducts.

DIY or Professionally Installed?

Rain gutters come in both Do-It-Yurself and professionally installed variety. DIY rain gutter systems are available in vinyl, sheet metal and aluminum at any of your local home improvement centers so you can put up the gutters yourself. Or you can have a professional gutter company come in and do the installation for you.

Look for these common measurements:

U” shape or a “K” style
Channels are usually 4, 5, or 6 inches in diameter
Typically matching downspouts are 2-by-3-inch or 3-by-4-inch rectangular or 3- or 4-inch round pieces.

If you are going the DIY route than vinyl gutter systems are the most popular and easily found at any local home improvement store. If you’d like the gutters to be a particular color than aluminum gutters are your best bet because they can come in over 25 different colors. Another option is to use galvanized sheet metal. It is a lot more durable than the aluminum which is a plus, but would need to be painted the color you desire. While not used very often any more, gutter systems can also come in wood for older, historical houses.

If you decide to get your gutter system professionally installed, one of your options will be seamless gutters which prevents any leakage from seams. These types of systems are usually made from aluminum, copper or factory-painted steel.