Seamless Gutters

[Lisa]

We are in the process of having our house re-roofed and seamless gutters installed. Although the roof installation looks good, the gutters were horribly installed. They will be removing them and reinstalling. However, we are being told some things by the contractor which we question. I'm hoping someone can comment on these issues.

My understanding is that seamless gutters are in fact seamless except for the corners. NO seams within a straight stretch. The contractor is stating that because the roof line and/or rafters are not perfectly straight, that they must put seams in within the length in order to compensate for the change in angle. The amount of discrepancy in my opinion is negligible, and I would think, the norm for any roof. If that's true, I'm sure that there is a way to deal with minor discrepancies without having to make a seam. Which of course defeats the purpose of seamless gutters. The downspouts should also be seamless except at joints in order to hug the side of the house/deck, etc.

Any seams (corner or otherwise) should be caulked and riveted. Should caulking be applied in the inside lip only, or also on the outside? Should it be a big glob of caulk or fairly neatly applied?

Is it true that there are only a very limited colors available if you want to have the color manufactured into the metal? And if you want another color it would have to be painted after the length is produced?

Is there some sort of authority on seamless gutters that we could reference if we continue to have a dispute on any issue?

Thanks very much for your help on this!

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Do they roll the gutter on-site? Do they have machine with them at your place making gutter to custom fit your house? If not, wrong guys. Tony

[Kurt J.]

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"Lisa" wrote

If the fascia board runs straight across the rafters without jogs for different planes in height for roof. Your contractor is outright lying to you.

Downspouts are _not_ seamless. To my knowledge no machine exists to make seamless downspouts (aluminum). They are usually sold in 10' lengths for residential use. The back of the downspout has a seam also.

Painted aluminum zip screws are preferred over rivets. Caulking on inside only, neatly applied.

You are limited to colors. All colors are painted on either at the extrusion plant (baked on) or field applied. They can not manufacture color throughout with aluminum. This is providing you're not speaking of vinyl gutters.

At this point, I would be more concerned of the job they did on the roof. The roof might look good to you, an expert opinion may say different. Getting an expert opinion on someone elses work, you will probably have to pay for.

[DaveG]

Seamless gutters are just that- seamless gutters. The gutter being the trough that runs horizontally to catch the water. These troughs have to be connected to corners, or downspout ends, either of which is a seam. Ours are sealed with some type of goo, from the inside. Ours was very neatly applied. Not sure what type of mechanical fastener was used to connect the gutter to the corners. Downspouts are also not seamless, at least not the ones I've seen. We had a fairly limited color selection if I recall, but our gutters are white to match the facia color, and the downspouts are grey to match the siding. I guess we got lucky there. I suspect you will need to choose an existing color offered by your installer, and try and paint it yourself after the install is done. You could always ask about having the parts painted first, but I wouldn't be suprised if they installers are resistant to the idea. In any event, I'm sure having that done would be pretty expensive. Never hurts to ask, though. Despite an earlier post, you do not have to have the gutter forming machine on site. Ours was not. The crew took all the measurements prior to the install, the delivered the guttes already formed and at the correct length. And this was from a very competent and skilled installer. Dave

[Lisa]

Thanks very much for your responses. However, I guess I should have mentioned that I'm talking about steel gutters, not aluminum. Thanks again - any additional info would be most appreciated.

[Kurt J.]

Color all the way through on steel? You mean galvanized? Maybe you better find out exactly what you wanted, and what they are putting up.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Galvanized steel? In our area, they're gone many years. Even HD does not sells it now. That will need painting then. My old house built in 1976 had galvanized steel gutters with all the seams soldered and painted. That was the last of it. Tony