What’s New in the World of Gutters? Here in Westchester County!

Gutters have always been an overlooked part of the roofing process. However, they can be one of the easiest parts of your home to invest in for a big return. Advances in roofing and technology have opened up a world of options for your roof and gutters.

Advances in Shingles

Although various shingle materials have been available for centuries, it’s recently become feasible to apply solar-panel shingles to the roof. These panels, an insufficient number, allow homeowners to recoup more than half of the monthly electric bill. It only takes 350 shingles or so to lower the monthly energy payment by 40-60%. In additional to solar shingles, new technology has optimized many other parts of the roofing process, and it’s important to know about your other options.

Optimize Those Gutters

For the tough Westchester winters, wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to worry about ice and snow building up on the roof and flooding the gutters? Ice dams are a constant threat. Building up a layer of ice slowly under the snow, ice dams can result in structural damage to the roof and gutters. When you’re choosing your gutter options, it’s important to pick a company that quickly addresses building-up ice dams. Additionally, you can invest in aluminum gutters that function as an irrigation system. These gutters efficiently move the water from the roof to your yard, saving money on your water bill. Separate from the construction of the gutters themselves, there are now “gutter guards” that assist with the rainwater harvesting by keeping the gutters clear of debris. This allows the gutters to move water through the irrigation system while simply brushing falling leaves and sticks out of the system.

Huge Potential Savings

Any homeowner has heard plenty of horror stories about flooding, but it’s easy to prevent at least one of the causes: overloaded gutters. As water fills up the gutter system, if it isn’t able to easily drain it can back up and drip through the gaps in the roof and shingles. Keeping a clear gutter system is critical to homeownership, and new technology makes it easier than ever. There’s plenty to consider when selecting the gutters you want, but one aspect that doesn’t have anything to do with savings or function is the color. There’s usually three options for color: matching the siding, matching the trim, or matching the roof. Matching the gutters to the siding is usually the optimal choice since they’re most likely to go unnoticed, but depending on your situation all are worth considering.