Maintaining your gutters is important for keeping your roof and the house itself intact. Damaged gutters can, over time, begin to pull on the roof. This not only opens the roof up to potential water damage, but the weight of the pulling gutters may actually rip at the structure itself. This doesn’t happen all right away; instead, it is a slow process, which means you won’t notice it immediately, and it can also begin to shift the flow of water, causing moisture to fall closer to the foundation of your house.
The last thing you want is a large buildup of moisture seeping in around the foundation. Foundation repair is incredibly expensive, and it is necessary to do what you can to avoid this. One of the best ways to do this is to simply properly maintain your gutters.
Gutter maintenance typically relies on you cleaning out the gutters around twice a year to remove any kind of gunk and debris that might have collected over the months since the previous cleaning. However, it may also mean that, eventually, you’ll need to replace your gutters. If the current gutters are not functioning correctly, if you’re already installing a new roof, or if there are upgrades you are interested in, a new gutter might be a desirable addition to your property. However, you might have one question: “should I replace my own gutters?”
Here is what you need to know about replacing your own gutters and whether or not it is better to bring in a professional.
Consider The Process
First, installing the new gutters onto your roof can be not only time-consuming but also dangerous. You will be up on a ladder for much of, if not the entire installation, and the other portion of the time, you will be on the roof. If you have never installed a gutter before, this can be a challenge, and there is a bit of a learning curve.
However, if you have a multi-level house, you will need gutters on secondary floors. This means you will either need to stand on top of the roof or a ladder on top of the roof to access certain areas. This only adds to the level of danger and the kind of special equipment needed to ensure the project is done safely. It is almost always better to have a professional come out and install the gutter in these instances.
Professionals, like the team here at Charlotte Roofing Specialists, have the kind of equipment needed to install gutters on higher-up roofs, steep-slanted roofs, and other difficult-to-reach areas of the roof. Safety should always be a top priority, which is why if you are uncomfortable with the process, or if there are areas of the roof that are high up, you need to have an expert come out and install the new gutter for you.
Proper Installation
Installing the gutters will likely mean you need to drill and nail areas of the gutters into the roof. This is something you want to make sure is done correctly. If not, moisture may seep in through the hole created by the screw or nail, which can lead to rot and other problems. One of the biggest culprits of damaged roofs is water, so you need to do what you can to keep moisture out. A professional roofing contractor that specializes in gutter installation will allow you to do exactly this. So while trying to install new gutters on your own might save you money upfront, it might cost you more further down the line.
Timing
It can take a surprisingly long time to install gutters if you have never installed gutters in the past. You probably would like to have the gutters installed over a single weekend, but as mentioned earlier, there can be a rather steep learning curve behind the process. Once you figure it out and you become comfortable with what you are doing, it is a little more straightforward, especially if you have a shorter roof that is straight and there are no hard angles to work against. But even so, you might take more than one weekend to install the gutters, which does leave you susceptible to potential rain that could come during the days between your ability to work on it.
The project will move along much faster with a team of experts working on the gutters. Instead of spreading the installation across multiple weekends, you can have the final project done, often in a single afternoon.
Request A Quote For Your Gutter Installation Today
While it is possible to install gutters on your own, it often proves a better investment to have a professional install them. This will ensure the gutters are installed correctly the first time around and that the gutters are installed quickly. Additionally, you will often receive a warranty attached to the gutters, so should an issue arise, you can have it corrected. If you installed the gutters yourself, your only option is to pay more money and make the necessary correction.
Here at Charlotte Roofing Specialists, we want to ensure you have access to all the answers to your questions before moving forward with any roofing project. This includes the installation of new gutters. So, if you would like to learn more about installing new gutters on your own property, as well as what it might cost to have a professional contractor install the gutters for you, all you need to do is give our customer service staff here at Charlotte Roofing Specialists a call, or fill out the free request form right on the website.