Rain Barrels: Pros & Cons


rain barrels

Rain gutters serve the purpose to direct water away from your home to a place where you want it. Rain barrels help you save the water and look great!

You can also get them to direct it into a rain barrel where you can reuse the water for you need it most.

 

Pros

Better for your plants.

Rainwater is naturally softened water, free of chlorine, fluoride, lime, calcium and other chemicals. While your city’s water might add these items to make the water safer to drink. Chemicals are not great for your plants.  So if you have a garden then it will be best to use a rain barrel.

 

Saves You Money.

Lawn and garden watering make up nearly 40% of total household water use during the summer. So with a rain barrel you can save that much and it’s ultimately better for your home, because you’re not wasting your clean water.  You can also use it to wash your car!

 

Better For Times Of Drought.

When droughts hit us in the hottest of summer it’s best to use what we’ve saved during the spring rains can come in handy when we need it the most, so if you have to plants to water or possibly a garden to take care of then it is most useful.

 

Better For Your Home .

If you store the rain water and properly dispose of it, it will save you from when rain water becomes too much to handle.

 

Helps Water Treatment.

While there is an argument to be made that rain barrels help reduce the amount to rain water that goes into our sewer system.

 

Cons

More Work – It can  be more work since you have to move the rain water manually.

 

Cost – Rain Barrels are not a cheap investment.  The barrels alone cost over a $100. Also your downspouts will have to adjust them to lead into the rain barrels.  Another cost is in your time, so make sure you have it.

 

Rain Barrel Issues – diverting excess water, mosquitoes, or where to place your rain barrels.  Just make sure that you have your downspouts directing the water into the barrels.  As for the mosquitoes there are a few things that can help. Gold-fish (great if you live in a warm all year climate and don’t forget to feed them), vegetable oil, or mosquito dunks.

 

Not A Replacement for Drinking Water. Rainwater is not recommended to drink but there is a filter system you can use if you really want to.

 

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

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Fast Fact #2 – Home Foundation


Home foundation.

Gutters direct water away from your home foundation. If water accumulates around your homes foundation. It can make the ground soft and allow it to shift. Making sure your gutter rain away goes out and away from your home is important. Prevent gutter clogs and protect your home.

Home Foundation

 

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

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Fast Fact #1 – Aluminum Gutters


Aluminum Gutters are a great way to cut down the amount of leaks that can happen with your gutter system.

We offer many different color choices to choose from in both residential and commercial buildings.  Also in K style and half round styles. Give us a call today to set up a free estimate for a new seamless aluminum gutter system.Seamless Aluminum Gutters


For a free estimate on Seamless Aluminum Gutters, gutter cleaning, repairs or adding gutter 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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7 Ladder Safety Steps


Ladder safety is a very important part of DIY gutter work. 7 Ladder safety steps.

For the homeowner it can be a huge risk, especially when you are getting to the height of your roof or gutter.  Please make sure that if at any time you feel uncomfortable on top of a ladder, to stop what you are doing and call a professional.  It will cost much less to pay a professional than it would to pay hospital bill.7 Ladder Safety Steps

 


For a free estimate on gutter cleaning, repairs or adding gutter 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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What Causes Ice Dams?


 

What Causes Ice Dams?

What causes Ice Dams?

 

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As a homeowner in a climate that is affected by cold weather, especially ice, we need to be aware of ice dams and how to prevent them. What causes Ice Dams?   Ice dams occur when snow gathers on your roof and starts to melt only at the top due to the heat from your home. This creates a barrier of ice that traps water on the top of your roof.  The water can find its way between shingles and seams of your roof, creating cracks that allow water to seep into your home. Gutters on the roof can exacerbate the problem, because they aren’t as affected by your home’s heat. Leaves and debris that have collected in the gutters can trap ice, so it’s important to clean them before winter.

To prevent ice dams, homeowners have a few options.

They can rake the roof after major snowstorms that leave more than six inches of ice, or pay a company to remove the ice for them. Attics that aren’t properly insulated release a lot of heat, so to get at the root of the problem, homeowners should make sure that their attic is properly insulated and ventilated. Another option is to install dicing cables on your roof, which are essentially heated wires that melt the snow. You can have the cables professionally installed, or purchase a DIY kit at a hardware store.

Install an ice and water shield under the shingles on the lower 3 to 6 feet of your roof. The lower the slope of your roof, the higher up the roof this membrane must extend.

The last option is to starve the ice dams of their food supply. Use a snow rake and pull the snow off the roof at least 8 to 10 feet above the gutter guard line.

So make sure that your home is ready to for this winter.  Don;t deal with any bigger problems in the spring.

For a free estimate on gutter cleaning, repairs or adding gutter 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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Ladder Safety 101


With the holiday season in full swing, some of you might be preparing to put holiday lights on your home.

This means you’ll be climbing on ladders and setting them against your home (make sure to keep them off of your gutters because this might cause damage.) Ladder Safety 101 should be your main priority.  It’s important to practice ladder safety so you can make sure you’re enjoying your holidays with your family and not in a cast.

 

Ladder Safety 101

  • Follow the warnings and directions on the ladder.
  • Look for overhead power lines and make sure if you have a metal ladder to avoid electrical equipment.
  • Always inspect your ladder before using it.  Do NOT use a damaged ladder.
  • Make sure the ladder is open all of the way.
  • Do not use the top step unless the ladder is designed to use it that way.
  • Make sure the ground you are using the ladder on is stable.  Do not place it on anything to give you more height.
  • Don’t shift or try to more ladder when someone or something is on it.
  • Be sure that the locks on the ladder are set.
  • Don’t overload the ladder.
  • Make sure to use the buddy system if you are planning on using a ladder in-case of an emergency. ( It also helps to time to more a little faster.)

Remember to clean out your gutters before hanging holiday lights.  Too much weight can seriously damage your gutters and possibly your home.

For a free estimate on gutter cleaning, repairs or adding gutter 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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How Seamless Gutters Are Made


So your gutters need replaced? There are a lot more options available that you might not have known about, such as seamless gutters. Seamless gutters are one of the better options to choose when putting gutters on your home or replacing the gutters on your home.  They offer your home the beauty and stability that you want for your home.

How are they made?

We have a machine that we feed gutter coil into that shapes the coil into gutters.   It is simular to the machine shown in the video below but the processes are the same.

How Seamless Gutters Are Made

Our Seamless Gutter Machine

 

What makes them a better choice?

  • They have a longer life.
  • No seams means no places to leak or drip from.
  • No priming or painting needed.
  • Downspouts are more resistant to clogging.
  • Less labor, better product.
  • Color match so you can blend it in with your home.

Ultimately the choice is yours, but reports show that 70% or more of gutter put on homes today are seamless.  So no matter who you choose to do your gutters, they might already use this option for the majority of their gutter jobs.

 

For a free estimate on gutter cleaning, repairs or adding gutter 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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It’s Easy As Pie – Long-Term Gutter Maintenance Program


It’s Easy As Pie – Long-Term Gutter Maintenance Program

Long-Term Gutter Maintenance Program

 

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Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season. after that last float with Santa in the Macy Day Parade the madness begins.

Everyone is searching for that perfect gift. Consider getting a gift for a loved one who is too busy or unable to clean their gutters out this holiday season.  Give them a gift our Long-Term Gutter Maintenance program.

It’s a perfect gift that keeps on giving.  Gutters & Guards office reminds you when your home needs to get it’s gutters cleaned. Schedule a time and date that works with you or your loved one and come clean it for you.  It’s a gift that would be perfect for that couple who has everything, less time worrying about their gutters. To sign up for the program go to our Long-Term Gutter Maintenance page or give us a call at (855) 2 – NO CLOG.

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

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Why A Clean Gutter Matters


clean gutter

Why is it important to keep your gutters clean is probably a big question on all the minds of homeowners.

Most of you should have your gutter cleaned or at least have it planned to clean your gutters by now, but as you are cleaning or if you have a company come to clean them your mind is probably thinking “Why?”.

There are a few great and important reason to have a clean gutter. If we don’t think about them until we have a problem it’s often much more costly to fix it instead of paying the smaller fee of getting them clean ( or if you do it yourself no fee).

If you neglect cleaning your gutters it can cause problems such as:

  • Preventing water damage is the most important because if your gutters are spurting out water on your home it can lead to mold, and make your home less stable. Thus costing you way more money to replace siding or fascia boards or anything, which is a pain in the neck.

 

  • If you forget or keep putting cleaning your gutters off it will eventually lead to your gutters being full and all of the drains plugged which causes water overflow. Plus a few icky gutter debris. This damages your foundation and home. Gutters are not invincible so they will bend, break and eventually fall off your home taking out whatever lies in its path. Talk about expensive repairs.

 

  • Another nasty and expensive repair that overflowing gutters can cause is wood rot.  The areas that are affected first are the fascia boards then because of the splash effect will cause doorways, garage doors, and low to the ground siding/decking to rot.  Big expensive mess.

 

  • With all of the stale water and rotting wood that attracts mosquitoes and other rodents to your home. Which will nest and raise more of their kind in your gutters and places that are perfect for intruders to get into. Issues like rotting wood can exposing people and things you love to disease and harmful things.

 

  • Finally for all of you home owners who get snow and ice. Gutters that are clogged and full before winter, it’s going to be an issue.  Taking a huge risk on damage to your home because that time of year causes ice dams.  Ice starts to build up in your gutters and builds up on your roof. Slow melt of warm days and freezing nights this will allow water to seep through your ceiling and walls. Snow destroys any type of finishing you have and if you don’t attend to it. It can lead to mold and your floors can be destroyed.

clean gutter

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All of these things will make the value of your home go down as well.

If you plan on moving fixing these issues will help.  So avoid all these possible problems by cleaning your gutters out at least twice a year to avoid a headache.

For a free estimate on gutter cleaning, repairs or adding gutter 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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Lynchburg Business Magazine : Business Under 10 Years


We’re pleased to have an article about our company in the Lynchburg Business Magazine ‘s November/December 2013 issue.  This article highlights our business along with our other business, Rempfer Construction, Inc. and a few of our products/services.

The photos showcase the work that the crew were doing that day at the Braxton Park Apartments in Lynchburg, Va.

You can see the example of how our crew does the job and even a peak of the machinery that they use to create seamless aluminum gutters. Enjoy the Lynchburg Business Magazine article as much as we did!

To read the full article read it below or here.

Lynchburg Business MagazineLynchburg Business MagazineLynchburg Business MagazineLynchburg Business Magazine

A big thank you to Lynchburg Business Magazine for including our business in the Business Under 10 Year section of their magazine. We really appreciate it and enjoyed it!

For a free estimate on gutter cleaning, repairs or adding gutter 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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