Living in areas where extreme weather, such as storms and hurricanes, can suddenly occur poses significant challenges for roof and exterior home maintenance. In these areas, tracking the condition of your gutters shifts from a mere concern to a pivotal aspect of your home’s maintenance, requiring immediate attention. Every time a season changes, you need to re-evaluate the condition of your roof and gutters to ensure you enter each season prepared for the weather’s eventualities.
Since gutters function as your home’s first line of defence against harsh weather elements, it’s important to keep them in perfect condition throughout the year. Below, we’ll look at some practical tips on how you can protect your gutters from extreme weather damage so they can, in turn, protect your home and everything in it.
Choose the Right Gutter Material
Different gutter materials perform differently in different climates or weather conditions. If you live in areas that experience extreme climatic conditions, such as hurricanes and extreme heat, you should choose materials that perform well in those conditions. The most common gutter materials you should consider include:
- Vinyl: Vinyl gutters can perform well in moderate temperatures, but can’t withstand extreme temperatures. This is because vinyl gutters suffer warping in high temperatures and become brittle in freezing temperatures.
- Steel: If your region receives a balanced amount of rainfall and heat, which creates a conducive environment for rust, a steel gutter is the best option for your roof. Depending on your budget, you can choose either galvanized steel, which can resist corrosion for up to 25 years, or stainless steel, which is completely rust-resistant.
- Aluminum: For light-weight, corrosion-resistant, and durable performance against extreme weather conditions like hurricanes, you need aluminum gutters. They’re also good for areas that receive heavy snowfall as they can handle the heavy weight, especially if you choose a thickness gauge between .027 and .032.
- Zinc: If you’re looking for a more durable alternative to aluminum gutters, you can opt for zinc gutters, which last twice as long. When zinc is exposed to carbon dioxide and moisture, it forms a protective layer known as patina. This patina protects the gutters from the elements, keeping them functional for a long time.
Depending on where you live and your budget, you can choose the best gutter material from these top material options. For instance, if you’re looking for gutters Augusta GA, where hurricanes wreak havoc, you can choose aluminum or zinc gutters to match the harsh weather.
Install Gutter Guards
Gutter guards are your first line of defence when planning strategies to keep gutters functional. When debris, leaves, and dead branches accumulate in your gutters, they block water flow, causing them to clog. Installing gutter guards helps keep leaves and debris at bay, allowing your gutters to do their job seamlessly without interruption. This simple addition will help you save energy, time, and money you would have spent manually cleaning your gutters, especially during windy seasons when leaves fall rapidly.
You can choose guards from a wide range of options, including solid covers and mesh systems to fit your specific local weather challenges. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages, but the extent to which you exploit the advantages of a gutter guard system depends largely on your local climate.
An area prone to strong winds, leading to leaves and debris accumulation on the roof, and snow, may work well with solid covers. However, if you’re only worried about the leaves and larger particles accumulating in your gutters, the mesh system can work just fine.
Obtain a Homeowners Insurance
Though homeowners’ insurance is an added expense, it’s one of the best decisions you can make to ensure your home is protected from extreme weather. This investment protects your home from weather-related damage, fires, theft, power outages, and more, giving you peace of mind that the key areas of your home are insured.
Depending on your insurance’s liability limit, a single payout can cover an entire renovation project if the damage sustained during an extreme weather event is insured. However, floods or earthquakes are typically not covered in a homeowner’s insurance and may need special coverage to protect your property.
Invest in Advanced Maintenance Techniques
Beyond the common gutter maintenance techniques that ensure your system works perfectly well, you should also invest in advanced maintenance solutions, such as:
- Downspout extensions: You can use downspout extensions to direct water away from your home’s foundation, especially if you receive heavy rainfall in your area.
- Water flow analysis: During the rainy season, you can conduct periodic checks to observe water flow or leakage points that may need your attention.
- Periodic professional inspections: Professionals know what to look for in gutter systems that you may miss if you inspect them yourself. Schedule biannual or annual professional inspections to identify and address potential vulnerabilities in your system.
Extreme weather conditions, such as windstorms and excessive snow, can pose significant challenges to your gutters. However, you don’t have to feel helpless against these harsh weather elements. With careful implementation of the above ideas, you can easily maintain reliable performance even in harsh weather for a stress-free living.