Are you replacing your guttering soon?
Here’s eleven questions to ask the guttering estimator when you’re considering replacing your guttering.
When you’re getting a quote to replace your guttering, it can be hard to know what questions to ask of the estimator beyond how much and how soon, particularly if you don’t know anything about guttering to begin with. But there are a number of important questions to raise that will affect the performance and aesthetics of your new guttering system.
Gutter Profile
1. Profile
The starting point should be the profile, or the shape of the gutter. What guttering profile suits which style of home? If the property is a period home, for example, Roofrite recommends Quad guttering. This is a traditional profile and comes in a broad range of colors. A lot of modern homes are installing Quad gutter too, moving away from Squareline. This is a question of aesthetics.
Let’s stick with Quad guttering for the moment as we run through the question checklist.
Gutter Brackets
2. Bracket Position
Next you should enquire about the position of the brackets. The brackets support and connect the gutter to the fascia. Are the gutter brackets going to be installed on the inside of the gutter or the outside?
We believe the brackets for this profile are best installed on the outside of the gutter. This ensures the gutter is well supported. And, when it comes time to do your annual gutter clean, the debris will be easily scooped out rather than catching on and around the brackets.
3. Bracket Spacing
How far apart will the brackets be spaced? Plumbing Regulations state no further than 1200mm between brackets. Roofrite prefers to use spans of 900mm–1000mm to maximise support strength.
4. Bracket Fixings
What fixings will be used to attach the gutter brackets to the fascia? Will the installer be using screws or clouts? At Roofrite, we screw each bracket in. This ensures a really secure fix to the fascia.
Fascia
5. Fascia Condition
What is the condition of the fascia? Does this need any repairing prior to installation? There is no point in installing new guttering into a partially rotten fascia board so check with the estimator whether repairs of the fascia are included in the quote.
6. Colorbond Fascia Cover
Maybe you don’t want to paint your fascia board so you could ask if Colorbond fascia cover would suit your home. At Roofrite we prefer not to install it on a period home but do recommend it for contemporary homes.
Downpipes
There are several questions to consider around this subject.
7. Downpipe Style
Will the downpipes provided be round or rectangular? Round downpipes perform better than rectangular downpipes as they create a vacuum to extract the water quicker.
8. How Many Downpipes
How many downpipes are going to be installed? Regulations demand that a downpipe be installed every 12m.
9. Catchment Size
The size of the roof catchment area also dictates how many downpipes and the size of the downpipes to be installed. Ask your estimator whether he/she has calculated the catchment size of your roof.
10. Downpipe Size
What about the size of the downpipes? Should you upgrade the size of the existing downpipes?
11. Overflow Points
Will an overflow point be installed above each downpipe? If not, Plumbing Regulations demand that slotted gutter be installed. This is to ensure your guttering doesn’t backflow under your eaves in a heavy downpour – a common source of water ingress.
Roofrite Melbourne: Metal Roof Repairs, Metal Guttering, Metal Roof Restoration & Metal Re-Roofing
If you have any queries, or would like a quote on repairing or replacing your metal roof or metal guttering, please call Roofrite on 03 9499 8059