Damages That A Gutter System Prevents

Damages That A Gutter System Prevents. Gutter systems are important to keeping your home in shape. They not only divert water out and away from your home, it can prevent expensive damages from happening.

Common Problems:

Foundation PROBLEMS

If a gutter system is not working properly this can cause a big problem with your home’s foundation. Which will lead to costly repairs and other damages. If your gutters and downspouts are not properly guiding all the excess water away from your roof and home. It can leak into your basement and around your foundation. Wood within the foundation to be consistently exposed to water and moisture. This is heaven for termites and another costly repair for you.

Water Damages

Gutter systems that are not properly working can cause water damages to your siding, fascia, and more.

Damages to the roof that can happen when the gutters are clogged can range from shingle loss, sheathing damages or rot and decay of shingles and the roof’s foundation. Your walls/siding are liable for the same types of damages. When water gets behind siding it can get messy and you might not notice it on the outside. It might show on the inside which can mean expensive repairs.

Mold & Algae Build-Up

Mold build up can be hazardous to you and your families health. Gutters are allowing water to seep into your walls. If the mold turns into black more it can be expensive and difficult to remove. Algae, though not as dangerous as mold, can really bring down your home’s curb appeal. If your siding becomes wet it can lead to algae build up and you’ll have to wash the siding on your home, which can be difficult to remove.

A good way to prevent your gutters from clogging is by adding a gutter guard system to your home. We offer a MasterShield Gutter Guard which has a no clog guarantee and allows gutter cleaning to be less frequent and less of a chore. MasterShield is just one of the many gutter guards that we offer. Call us today to learn more about the types of gutter guards we offer.

For a free estimate on gutter installation, repairs or gutter leaf guards, call us today! Gutters & Guards experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and make sure that your home is protected.

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Tags: Charlottesville Virginia, Construction and Maintenance, damage, Debris, Downspout, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, Home repair, Lynchburg Virginia, Rain gutter, Water damage, winter

Gutter Maintenance Tips #1 – Clogged Gutters And Downspouts

Clogged Gutters And Downspouts

A new weekly post we are starting a new weekly post with Gutter Maintenance Tips to help you better maintain your gutter system. If you’re a DIYer and to help spread the word about the importance of gutter maintenance.

Gutter Maintenance Tips #1 – Clogged Gutters And Downspouts

This week the gutter maintenance tip is on clogged gutters and downspouts. When cleaning your gutters, remember to pay particular attention to the downspouts. If leaves and debris are clogging it, water won’t drain properly. This can lead to overflow of debris and water on gutters, mold and algae build up. Eventually if ignored, sagging gutters.

So prevent this make sure to clean your gutters at least twice a year ( once in the spring and once in the fall) or hire a professional (such as Gutters & Guards, Inc.) to do it for you. Gutter maintenance is an important part of homeowner-ship and need to be routinely taken care of. So make sure to prevent costly repairs by maintaining your gutters.

For a free estimate on gutter cleaning, repairs or installing a gutter leaf guard, call us today! Gutters & Guards experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and make sure that your home is protected.

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Tags: Charlottesville Virginia, damage, Debris, Downspout, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, Home repair, Lynchburg Virginia, Materials and Supplies, Rain gutter, Virginia, Water damage, winter

Winter Lawn Maintenance

Winter Lawn Maintenance can be an important part of keeping you homes’ curb appeal up. Keeping your gutters clean is a part of lawn maintenance. Taking care of your lawn and landscape can help you keep you gutters clean because there is less debris to fall into your gutters.

During the winter, take warmer days to do some lawn work, such as:

Weed Removal

This is a job you can work on after all the bigger snows for the season are over. Weed out all the flowerbeds to prepare for spring growth and gardening.

Fertilize Shrubs & Flowerbeds

Fertilize around your shrubs and flowerbeds in late fall/early winter to get them in prime condition for spring planting. This will replace all the nutrients that can be lost from the soil during the hot summer months. Once the weather turns cold, the fertilizer will stay in the soil and feed your lawn’s roots all winter long.

Remove Dead Flowers

Remove dead flowers from flower beds and pots. It might be a good idea to store your pots and other small plant holders that could potentially break from the extreme cold weather or might get broken if the wind knocks them down.

Avoid excess lawn traffic

If an object is left on your lawn over the winter, this creates a dead spot on your lawn. Also make sure to use your sidewalk and walkway. Clear your walkways to prevent visitors and family members from using your lawn as a cut-through. If you have a lot of traffic through your lawn during the winter, this is create dead spots on your lawn. Don’t park any vehicles on your lawn either. It’s a big lawn killer. You can start seeding your lawn once it gets closer to spring around the beginning of March.

For a free estimate on gutter installation, repairs or gutter leaf guards, call us today! Our experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and make sure that your home is protected.

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Tags: Charlottesville Virginia, Construction and Maintenance, curb appeal, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, Lynchburg Virginia, Materials and Supplies, Mother Nature, Rain gutter, spring, Virginia, winter

4 Things To Consider When Replacing Gutters

Gutter replacement can be a quick task but if you’re replacing older gutters that are on an older home or a new-to-you home, there are a few other things you need to consider as a homeowner.

Is the current size of gutter the right one?

Have you noticed when it rains that the water is overshooting the gutters or around the area where the valley run off goes water is going everywhere? This is from an improper gutter size. To learn more about the appropriate size for your home please visit our previous post about k-style gutters. It’s also important to remember that if your homes style is more suited for a half round gutter that those gutters will hold a lot less water than a k-style.

Color!

This is important to think about. So you’ve had white gutters on it all along. Did you know what we offer over 18+ different colors of gutters? If you want your gutters to match your trim to blend in. Not stick out like a sore thumb, this could be a great option. To learn more about the color options. We provide please visit a recent blog. We posted on choosing a gutter color or our services page to view all of the options. If you’re looking for the same gutters, simply choose the profile that best matches the original.

How’s the roof look?

Usually when you replace your roof the gutters are replaced at the same time since they need to be removed while the replacement takes place. Although you may not need to replace your roof, it’s already good to check and see the condition of your roof. This can go the other way as well. If you are looking on replacing your roof and you have some flexibility in your budget, check the status of your gutters. If you notice a large amount of shingle grit in your gutters it can point to needing a new roof.

What about the fascia?

This is another important place to look at whenever you are thinking about replacing your gutters, especially if your gutters have been on the down-turn over the past few years and had lots of leaks. Fascia rot can really affect your gutters. Think of it this way, if your wooden fascia is rotten and it becomes soft this allows for your gutters to pull away from your home. And if it goes unnoticed then your gutters could potentially fall off your home, damaging your new gutters.

An extra thing to think about is how often do you clean out your gutters? Are you finding a large amount of debris in your gutters? Investing in gutter guards can cut the amount of time spent cleaning out your gutters. It won’t completely eliminate the need to clean out your gutters at least once a year but it will save you a lot of time. Learn more about the gutter guards we offer.

For a free estimate on gutter installation, repairs or gutter leaf guards, call us today! Our experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and ensure that your home is protected.

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Tags: Construction and Maintenance, Debris, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, Home repair, Lynchburg Virginia, Materials and Supplies, Rain gutter, Virginia

Salt & Snow Removal

This time of year snow removal is a common task for a homeowner. It can mean getting up early to clear the walkway and driveway to removing snow from your roof. Using salt to melt ice is a go to solution for most homeowners when it comes to melting ice from your porch, but using it on a regular basis during the winter months can cause pits in the cement used for walkways, steps and other concreted areas. It will eventually cause it to crack or cause potholes in the surface. If you get too much around the metal of your railing or patio furniture, it can cause corrosion to take place.

Using too much salt for snow removal can also be harmful to the nearby streams and lakes.

So it’s important to use salt sparingly. There are 3 easy steps to cut back on the amount of salt used when clearing walkways.

Shovel the snow first to removal all of the light, fluffy snow.
Then shovel again, using the shovel to break up chunks of ice.
If there are still slippery spots that cannot be removed with simple shoveling, use salt to melt ice or another type of de-icer to remove ice.

An important factor to remember is that salt stops working ( as a de-icer ) at 15 degrees (fahrenheit).

So other methods will need to be used. Sand can be used to create traction on walkways. After all the snow has melted and dried up sweep up all of the excess salt to prevent it from going into the water ways and to use it again.

It’s also important to clean the large amount of snow from your roof to prevent ice dams and too much strain on your roof. For more information about rooftop snow removal please view a previous post on the subject.

For a free estimate on gutter installation, repairs or gutter leaf guards, call us today! Our experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and ensure that your home is protected.

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Tags: Construction and Maintenance, Home repair, ice, injury prevention, Lynchburg Virginia, Materials and Supplies, Virginia, Weather, winter

Preparing Your Gutters For Icy Winter Storms

Gutter maintenance is never as important as it is in the winter. So preparing your gutters for icy winter storms is an important task to tackle before the first snow/winter storm of the year. For some of us it’s already too late but for the Lynchburg area we still have time.

Make Sure To Clean All Debris From Your Gutters And Downspouts

This is important for preventing ice dams on your home and keeping ice from forming on your gutters. It pretty much happens like this. If your gutters are full of debris and other large materials this will allow water to stand and collect in your gutters. When the weather gets cold the water will freeze causing build up and ice dams. So during the slow thaw the water will continue to melt and freeze allowing for other debris & water to roll right over your gutters and onto the ground and this is where it becomes dangerous to your foundation.

Inspect All Seams And Anchors/Spikes

When snow sets on your roof it can be a real strain on your gutters. If you live in an area where you received heavy amounts of snow.Look into a snow rake to rake snow off of your roof because this can be very strainful to your home. If not then just make sure your gutters anchors/spikes are in good shape. Will be able to handle a little extra this winter.

Check Downspouts And Diverter

Check your downspouts and diverters for any clogs or leaks.

For a free estimate on gutter installation, repairs or gutter leaf guards, call us today! Gutters & Guards experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and ensure that your home is protected.

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Tags: clogged gutters, Construction and Maintenance, damage, Debris, Downspout, gutter cleaning, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, Lynchburg Virginia, Materials and Supplies, Rain gutter, Virginia, winter

10 Signs It’s Time For New Gutter

There are times when your gutters will just need to be repaired and times when you’ll need to replace your gutters. If you’re not sure if you need a gutter replacement or just a repair there are a few signs that will let you know, It’s Time For New Gutter.

Bent or Broken Gutters

When your gutters look like they’ve been through a lot, and are not functioning how they are suppose to, it’s a big sign that gutter replacement is in your near future.

Missing Gutters

Missing gutters is a problem that should not be left unnoticed. It can cause bigger problems with both the exterior of your home and your foundations. This leads to costly repairs if ignored.

Too Many Rust Spots And Cracks To Count

Rust spots and cracks can be repaired and hidden. Once you get some many it’s not worth the time spent fixing and caulking.

They’ve Been Repaired For Leaks Way More Than Once

After you repair the 4th or 5th leak, it’s a similar situation to the rust spots and cracks. You can only repair it so many times. More of a hassle than a way to save money.

Sagging Gutters/Pulling Away From Roof

Sagging gutters or gutters that are starting to pull away from your home are not only a hazard to your home but to you and your family as well. If sagging gutters are ignored eventually they will turn into gutters that are pulling away from your roof and that can lead to your gutters completely detaching from your home and falling off. When they fall of it’s hard to say what they will hit on the way down. It could end up costing your a lot more than if you’d repair or replace them when it starts to happen.

Rotted Shingles

Homes that have a lot of trees around and hanging over the roof, tend to have a lot more problems with gutters. Branches and lots of leaves build up in your gutters and in roof valleys causing overflows, and clogging. Leaves retain moisture and cause your shingles to rot. This is letting you know something isn’t working right with your gutters. You might just need a repair or cleaning but if it’s gone on for too long it could be time for a new gutter system. Consult with a professional (such as Gutters & Guards)

Broken Fastener

Broken Fasteners can mean damage to your gutters. If gutters are left with broken fasteners for too long it can bend your metal gutters and cause irreversible damage.

Peeling Exterior Paint

Peeling exterior paint is your home telling you that you are having gutter problems. This means water is leaking behind your gutters and damaging the siding and fascia of your home. This can lead to costly repairs especially if water has seeped underneath siding.

Pooling Water

Pooling water on your walkways in your yard is a big sign that your gutters are not working properly. Whether it be a clog or worse this needs to be taken care of asap. It can lead to slick spots during the winter.

Eroding Landscape

This is a very dangerous and can lead to foundation damage. It also means you are having big gutter problems or drainage problems.

Gutters are a very important factor to keeping your home and your family safe. Take the right precautions to prevent leaks and clean your gutters at least twice a year. It will help your existing gutters last longer and prevent you from having to prematurely replace more expensive components to your home. If you’re still not sure whether you need replacement gutters or not, please consult with a professional such as Gutters & Guards, Inc.

For a free estimate on gutter installation, repairs or gutter leaf guards, call us today! Our experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and ensure that your home is protected.

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Tags: Charlottesville Virginia, Construction and Maintenance, damage, Debris, Downspout, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, leak, Lynchburg Virginia, Materials and Supplies, Rain gutter, repair, Virginia, Water damage, winter

Gutter Color Choices

Gutter Color Choices. Gutters are a necessity when it comes to homeowner-ship. They are important to keep your home functioning and running right. With gutters it’s not the same as it was 30 years ago, gutters can now be functional and stylish. We offer over 30+ colors in seamless aluminum gutters, as well as copper gutters. Using colors on your gutters can give your home some added curb appeal and really give it a custom home look. Below we have some examples of gutters colors paired with siding and stone that can be used for a home remodel.

A More Conservative Scheme

A Popular Combination To Use Shake Instead Of Stone For An Accent

To view more of our color listing please visit our Gutter Installation page where we have links to show you all of the available options of gutter colors to choose from. Also check out our blog post that is All About Seamless Gutters. View photos to see some of the darker gutter colors.

For a free estimate on gutter installation, repairs or gutter leaf guards, call us today! Gutters & GUards experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and ensure that your home is protected.

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Tags: Charlottesville Virginia, Construction and Maintenance, curb appeal, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, Lynchburg Virginia, Rain gutter, Social media, Virginia

Winter Curb Appeal

Winter-time is usually when you are not thinking about curb appeal and thinking more about how is my house handling this weather. We suggest that you think about both. You can do small little things to keep your home looking great when there is a foot of snow in your yard. Below is a few different suggestions to help you get your home looking great this winter.

This can become icy if left alone

Keep Your Pathways & Walkways Clear

Slipping can be a dangerous thing to happen in the winter. Making sure that you always have plenty of de-icer and a snow shovel handy is important for making this happen and keeping your walkways pedestrian safe. You can also see if your gutters are leaking. If you see a slick spot (or happen to find one) this will let you know that your gutters may have a problem that needs to be addressed when it’s warmer. Take a photo so you want to remember the spot when it gets warmer. It not only gives your home some great winter curb appeal; it keeps your family safe.

Exterior Lighting

This can be an important part of keeping around your home safe. Since the days are shorter and it gets darker earlier, it’s a pretty smart investment when it comes to safety around the home. There are lots of different ideas to choose from when it comes to exterior lighting. We really like this idea (link). It gives this home almost a fairy-tale look. If whimsical isn’t your style there are also some really great lighting hardware that can bring light to your home while keeping a more conservative look.We suggest something more modern and sleek, such as this (link) Whatever you choose you can rest knowing that your home is a little more safer when you can see where you’re going.

Winter Decor

Add a festive wreath to your entry door, or decorating your empty flower boxes with a seasonal flowers. Using evergreens and other fake plants would be easier to manage especially when the temperature drops down into those brisk/cold days. Though this is more of a holiday design it could last all year-long. (link) If that isn’t something you’d want to keep all winter long you can add a bird house or something else to keep your flower box full during the winter months (link). Don’t forget about a wreath. Wreaths are a fast and creative way to add curb appeal and charm to your home. We found a fantastic guide with over 35+ different wreath ideas that range from holiday to just winter themed. (link)

To learn more about winter curb appeal please visit our pinterest board Outdoor Decor.

For a free estimate on heated gutter guards, adding regular gutter guards or gutter repairs, call us today! Our experienced team will take the guess-work out of the process, and ensure that your home is protected.

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Tags: Construction and Maintenance, curb appeal, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, ice, injury prevention, leak, Lynchburg Virginia, Materials and Supplies, Rain gutter, Virginia, Weather, winter

5 Reasons Aluminum Gutter Guards Are A Better Product

Gutter leaf guards should be an investment on your home. They not only help you save money & time by cutting down on the amount of time and money you spend on cleaning them out; They protect your home from gutter clogs and can expand the lifetime of your gutters if you take care of them properly. This is why we believe that aluminum gutter guards are better for your home. Just take a minute and think about it. Plastic does not fair well when it comes to extreme weather. It gets too cold your plastic gutter guards will crack, and if it gets too warm your gutter guards will expand. Both will distort your guards and affect how they perform. If this isn’t enough to help you stray from plastic guards these 5 reasons should help.

Durable

Aluminum gutter guards are durable. Your gutters the shouldn’t crack or break, yes they can bend but only if there is enough force put upon them. Please DO NOT set your ladder against your gutters. A ladder should be set against your fascia, not your siding or gutters. Prevent damages from occurring and because fascia is flat. All of our gutter guards are made out of strong aluminum and stainless steel. This makes them a bit more indestructible than plastic or vinyl guards.

Inexpensive

Aluminum gutters guards are not as expensive as you may think. Yes they’ll cost more than plastic but we’re looking at the quality and longevity here. The warranties of the gutter guards we carry have 10 – lifetime warranties that come with them. They also range in price so no matter what your budget is you’ll be getting a quality product.

Longer Lifetime

As we stated above these gutter guards are meant to last a longer time than plastic gutter guards. All of the gutter guards we carry are made out of aluminum metal. The screen mesh gutter guards have stainless steel for the mesh and an aluminum frame to keep it strong and working great.

Harder For Pests To Penetrate

Our gutter guards cut down the problem of pests by being completely enclosed. Our screen mesh gutter guards have a filter to not only keep debris out but they keep pests out as well and our curved gutter guards are completely enclosed to ensure no birds or small pests can get in.

Color Match

This is the best part. Most of the plastic and vinyl gutter guards do not have more than a couple of options. Our gutter guards can be color matched to ensure that you won’t have an eye sore when it comes to owning a gutter guard system. Mastershield offers many colors ( view here ) where as Leafproof offers more than vinyl but less than mastershield. (view here) They both offer a copper color so whether you have aluminum or copper gutters you’ll have aluminum gutter guards to match in color.

There are a lot of options when it comes to gutter and home protection. To learn more about our products or to see them in the flesh, give us a call today to learn more!

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Tags: Charlottesville Virginia, Construction and Maintenance, copper, Downspout, Gutter Guard, Gutter Guards, Gutters, Gutters and Guards, Lynchburg Virginia, Materials and Supplies, Rain gutter, Virginia, Weather, winter