Orillia’s Preferred Rain Gutter Contractor
As an experienced rain gutter contractor in Orillia, Roofing For Less offers eavestroughs and rain gutters installation, cleaning, repair, and replacement services in Barrie, Midland, and other major locations in the Muskoka and Simcoe regions. Contact Roofing For Less for more information.
Why Do You Need Rain Gutters?
There’s a variety of reasons why your home needs functioning rain gutters, also known as “eavestroughs,” as they serve a number of purposes. As the top provider of rain gutters installation services in Midland, we at Roofing For Less advise our clients to make sure that their rain gutters are in good condition.
- The first reason you should have eavestrough installation is it will save the foundation of your home. Without rain gutters, water will run down the side of your home and into the foundation, causing damage and possible flooding in your basement. And if water makes its way into your basement, it can cause wood rot due to moisture and can damage walls as well. Rain gutters will carry the water away from your home and prevent this damage.
- Basement flooding is another possible issue that can arise from having blocked rain gutters or no gutters at all. Even a few inches of water can ruin furniture and appliances. Even if you have properly maintained eavestroughs, water can still cause damage to your lawn due to erosion. Be sure to have a drainage ditch or splash blocks to take the impact of the water stream.
Working rain gutters prevents damage to yard and lawn while increasing the value of your home. In fact, it may well be one of the first things that a potential buyer looks at.
Functioning eavestroughs also get rid of standing water, a common breeding ground for mosquitoes. As the leading provider of eavestrough installation, we recommend keeping your eavestroughs clean at all times. And best of all, keeping your eavestroughs clean means they will last longer.
Additional Services
Apart from eavestrough and rain gutters installation, we offer a range of roofing services including:
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Eavestrough and Gutter Guard
Eavestroughs and downspouts perform a necessary and important function on your house – the most important is keeping the water away from your foundation and out of the house. Most overhangs are about 12-18 inches wide and as such most homes do have and should have eavestroughs installed. If the overhang is wider or sufficient enough to keep the water from cascading off your roof and pooling around the foundation you may not want or need eavestroughs on your home. Eavestroughs on steel roofs should be installed with strapping attached as anyone living in Orillia, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Midland, Bracebidge, Muskoka or Simcoe regions and have a steel roof know how the snow can avalanche off the roof ripping the eavestrough completely. Strapping the eaves to the roof (not the fascia board) will help prevent this from happening. The use of snow stops on a steel roof also helps with this problem.
Downspout placement and quantity are also important factors for consideration with an eavestrough installation. The eavestrough we install comes in 5 and 6 inch aluminum, we don’t and won’t install vinyl eavestroughs. When using 5-inch eavestrough you should have a downspout no more than every 50 feet as any more than that and the water volume will be too much for the eavestrough to handle. When using 6-inch eavestrough the downspouts should be placed no more than 60 feet apart for same reasons noted with the 5- inch. Most residential homes have a 5-inch trough use and the 6 inch troughs are usually used in commercial applications. Some homes have used 6-inch eavestrough when the water flow is greater whether it is from a steep pitch or lack of available spots of a downspout.
Keeping your eavestroughs clean and free of debris is also an important step in protecting your roof as well as your house foundation. If the eavestroughs are full of debris or leaves, the water can’t flow freely through them and will spill over the edges of the eavestrough and cause water to pool near the house. During winters it can cause ice to form on top and back up under your shingles. If you are unable to or simply don’t want to clean out your eavestrough, we also install a gutter guard product called Alu-rex or T-rex. Both products are a rigid aluminum construction with perforations and are installed just under the top lip of your eavestrough preventing debris from sitting in the trough area. It also works well for keeping pine needles out of the trough. This gutter guard can be installed on existing eavestroughs or new and also comes in the 5 and 6 -inch widths.
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Do I Need Fascia and Soffit?
The quick answer is, definitely. You need some sort of fascia and soffit whether it's aluminum, vinyl or painted or stained wood. Fascia and soffit play a critical role in preserving the exterior of your home. When living in the regions we service like Orillia, Barrie, Midland, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville, Muskoka and Simcoe we prefer to use aluminum fascia and soffit for its durability, longevity and ability to keep rodents, critters and pests out of your house as opposed to vinyl or wood products.
Fascia is the flat part that runs along behind your eavestrough where your eavestrough is attached to and it is also in the peaked ends of your roof (gable ends). This area will have a fascia board generally made of 1x6 pine and if left exposed to the elements without some sort of capping such as aluminum, it will rot over time and rather quickly. Your eavestrough will not stay attached and your gable ends, in particular, will become prime targets for raccoons, squirrels, mice, bats, bees and carpenter ants.
Soffit runs under the overhang of your roof and if installed correctly, provides necessary ventilation and air circulation to reduce excess moisture that can cause rotting and decay of the roof's structure. It promotes directional air movement through the eaves and rafters of your home, helping it to stay in great shape both inside and out. Soffits can also be used as a decorative feature under porches and inside sunrooms.Both fascia and soffit come in a wide array of colours and in different styles and sizes. In addition to being a necessary functional part of your exterior, they also provide a nice finished look to your home. We prefer to use Royal Building products, Kaycan or Gentek for our installations.
