When it comes to gutter sizes, the default choices that homeowners can avail of is usually five inches for K-style gutters and six inches for half-rounds. According to experts, these sizes can already handle the amount of rainfall in most parts of the country. However, what some homeowners don’t realize is that it’s actually possible to widen your gutters to prevent them from overflowing. But how exactly does one do this?
In this post, residential roofing service provider Polk Contracting Inc gives you a guide on how you can properly size your gutters.
When trying to pick the right gutter size for your home, the first thing you can do is measure the size of your roof. That way you can get its watershed area, which is the area where the rainwater will run off. Multiply the lengths of the peak and eave by the roof’s width to determine its square footage and write down those dimensions. When you’re doing this, be sure to take the roof’s valley into account as it can affect the runoff of the rainwater from your roof.
After you’ve measured your roof, experts recommend that you determine the rainfall intensity of your area. Often, the weather bureau calculates these figures so you should be able to determine this quickly. Apart from that, find out how often major storms occur in your area as well. Like the rainfall intensity, you can also learn this from the weather bureau and if there aren’t any numbers available for your community, use the figures of your neighboring communities instead.
Once you’ve determined the rainfall intensity of your area, you can now determine how much water your gutters will have to drain. To accomplish this, you can divide the inch per hour watershed of your roof by the five minute rainfall intensity of your area. Once you’ve done so, you can now ask your gutter and roofing contractor what size your gutters will have to be in order to handle that kind of amount.
Afterwards, measure the length of your gutters for downspout locations as the number of downspouts can affect your gutter’s ability to handle water. In fact, according to experts, increasing from one downspout to two can double the gutters’ capacity to handle runoff rainwater without overflowing.
Make your search for a gutter and insurance restoration contractor easier by turning Polk Contracting, Inc. As one of the area’s top roofing and siding contractors, Polk Contracting can provide you with exceptional solutions to all your home improvement needs. With our quality products from the most trusted brands, and our skilled, professional crew, we’ll make sure your project is completed to quality specifications. We proudly serve homeowners in Harford County and surrounding areas. Call us today at (410) 994-2801 or fill out this contact form to schedule your evaluation.