Month: December 2021

Copper gutters make a beautiful, eye-catching accent for homes of a certain architectural style. Their unique color and sheen give them a much more sophisticated appearance than is usually seen on the average home. Copper gutters are a significant investment and require a corresponding amount of attention and maintenance to keep them looking their best.  

Whether you install copper half-round or Barbie-style gutters on your home, the following tips apply to both types:

• Never touch copper unless you’re wearing gloves. There are oils, salts and acids on the surface of skin that can interact with and damage unprotected copper, leaving behind unsightly smears and fingerprints everywhere you touch. Thus, any time you work with copper gutters, be sure to wear work gloves that are specifically designed to handle copper. These gloves offer a tight grip and will protect the delicate surface of copper gutters from smudges and smears. 
• Buy a good metal polish. You may have noticed on copper edifices around your community that copper forms a green patina over time when exposed to certain environmental conditions. While some homeowners like this patina, others prefer the shine of newly installed copper gutters and want to maintain this look for the life of their gutters. To keep copper gutters shining bright, all you need to do is apply a good copper polish. This will safely remove tarnish, fingerprints, hard water spots and any other marks on the surface of copper gutters.
• Stick with copper for all your accessories. If you try to use materials other than copper for downspouts or extensions when upgrading or lengthening your gutters, you’ll end up with a mish-mash of materials that looks disjointed and unattractive. If you want copper gutters, you must commit to using only copper for any accessories you add at a later date.

Taking care of copper gutters isn’t hard or complicated and, if you make maintaining your investment a priority, the time and effort you put into it will pay off in the end. Copper gutters have an incredibly long service life. They don’t rust nor do they need to be painted, which means they can easily last 100 years in any climate. Combine this with their aesthetic beauty and you can’t go wrong investing in a copper gutter system. 

Enlist the Help of Professionals

If your gutter installer has recently replaced your old, worn-out gutters with beautiful new copper gutters, you may want to call Gutter Helmet, one of the best gutter guard companies around, to find out if our gutter protection systems will work on your new gutters. Give us a call today at (800) 824-3772 or submit our online contact form.

The post Tips on Caring for Copper Gutters appeared first on Gutter Helmet.

With winter around the corner, all house owners start to worry about the same pain in the neck problems. The gutters! Cleaning and preparing the gutters for the winter is not an easy task which is why there are a few tips and tricks you can use with specialized tools to make your life a lot easier. Most people try to use their own tools or apply methods that in turn can break your gutters.

Source

This post first appeared on https://gutterpros.com/

The post Winter Roof Damage: What Can You Do to Prevent It? appeared first on Gutter Helmet.

Homeowners who live in areas with harsh winter climates are well aware of how hard winter ice and snow can be on roofs and gutters. On many homes, the signs are all there: the roof covered in snow, icicles hanging from the sides of the house and ice dams forming in the gutters and at the edge of the roof. Many people don’t realize that icicles and ice dams are two of the most obvious signs of danger ahead for a roof. 

What Are Ice Dams?

The phenomenon known as an ice dam is a buildup of ice which can occur in the gutters or along the eaves of a roof. Ice dams form when a warm roof (the result of an under-insulated attic) causes ice and snow to melt. The resulting snowmelt travels down to the edges of the roof, where it’s naturally colder, and refreezes. When this occurs, any additional moisture will back up behind the ice dam, an occurrence that often results in water seeping under the shingles. This water can then leak into the house through the ceilings and walls, and will eventually cause rot and lead to the formation of mold.

How to Prevent Ice Dams From Forming

It’s important to know how to prevent ice dams to keep moisture from entering your house. Here are four ways to do this. 

• Don’t let snow linger on your roof. It’s fairly easy to remove snow from your roof. This can be done using a snow rake, which doesn’t require the use of a ladder. Since snow is the primary element in the formation of ice dams, ensuring its removal will prevent them from forming. 
• Add more insulation. Heat travels to the roof in one of two ways: either by convection through the top surface of insulation or conduction through the slanted part of the ceiling. By adding more insulation in the attic, the temperatures in the different areas of the attic will remain more stable, which will reduce heat loss through convection and conduction.
• Find and seal air leaks. The other main factor that causes snow to melt and ice dams to form is the heat that escapes through gaps and slits inside the house. If the warmth isn’t able to reach your roof, the snow won’t melt and the process that leads to the formation of ice dams will be arrested. The common fixes used to stop air leaks are weatherstripping and caulking. Seal any gaps you find in the ceiling to stop warm, moist air from rising to the attic and causing the snow on the roof to melt.
• Consider installing gutter covers. Unless you have heated gutters, ice can easily build up inside of them. Icicles can form as well which, if allowed to remain, can cause your gutters to pull away from the exterior or even be torn completely off. One way to prevent this is by installing Gutter Helmet® gutter covers, widely regarded as the best gutter covers around. They can be installed on existing gutters and will help keep ice dams from forming in them.

Protect Your Home From Ice Dams

To learn more about this high-quality product and how our gutter covers can help protect your home from the threat of ice dams, give Gutter Helmet a call today at (800) 824-3772 or contact us online.

The post 4 Ways to Stop Ice Dams From Forming appeared first on Gutter Helmet.