Gutters - Seamless Gutters Compared With Sectional Gutters

Sectional gutters are sold in pieces that measure from 10- to 22-feet long. They are made out of vinyl, painted aluminum or even pre-painted steel. The gutter sections are joined together by various types of connectors and sealants.

All sectional systems have caps on the ends, corner pieces and drop outlets for connecting to the downspouts. These joints are also common to "seamless" gutters. From this perspective, even seamless gutters have seams in some areas. The difference is seamless gutters do not have seams where they are avoidable because they are manufactured on site to specific lengths.

The downside of sectional gutter systems is that there is a potential for leaks at the seams that is aggravated by weather over time. By definition and design, sectional gutters simply have more seams that can leak and discolor. The flexibility offered by manageable and predictable lengths is offset by the need to join them to maintain continuity of the water flow channeling system. This may be self evident but its disadvantages are overlooked or under communicated.

The simple truth is that gutters that are unattractive can disproportionately affect the value of your property because it is visually distracting and impacts buyers emotionally. The great popularity of home owners' educational television programming makes this point over and over. Ugly is ugly and when you are looking for top dollar, ugly is expensive.

While sectional gutters can be installed by the homeowner the drawbacks when considered against the advantages of seamless gutters are considerable which is why they are not as popular as they once were. The commonly accepted truth is that sectional gutters may even negatively impact the salability of your home because of their known limitations.

Generally, professional installers simply do not use sectional gutters except in the most unusual circumstances. At our company we have only used them in unusual commercial applications when extraordinary width was required. We have never used sectional gutters for home applications. Any well equipped professional gutter company will manufacture each section to the required length for each area of the house.

Sectional gutters are more popular among do-it-yourselfers because it is difficult to find seamless gutter companies that will "drop-off" seamless gutters sections that they manufacture on site. There is too much overhead involved to make it profitable for most.

Seamless gutters are the most popular type of gutter used today. They are usually made out of aluminum that has a durable baked-on finish, but seamless gutters may also be made from copper or steel that comes painted from the factory.

Most gutter installers bring a special machine to the job site so that they can manufacture the gutters to exact measurements that they take on the spot. These types of gutters cannot be produced by do-it-yourselfers because the needed machinery is expensive and heavy and is easily damaged if not operated properly and therefore not even available to non-professionals.

Overall, if you have the choice, seamless gutters provide the best value and should you sell your property, the best return on investment, but in an emergency, particularly if money is tight, the do-it-yourselfers can use a sectional gutter to resolve an immediate problem and prevent further damage.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2991119