Answer: It depends on what you buy, who installs them, and how well they are maintained!
Follow these three MUST DOS!
1. A proper installation of gutters requires the thickest aluminum available (.032 gauge), the gutters must be seamless (seams always lead to leaks), and installed with hidden hangers (driving spikes through gutters only damages them).
2. Make sure you have a gutter specialist do the work. Roofers build roofs, siding companies install siding, and only an established, reputable, and fully insured gutter company should build and install your gutters.
3. Most importantly, like all equipment exposed to the harsh elements and daily wear and tear, maintenance is the key to longevity. There is absolutely no point in installing beautiful new gutters, if they are not cleaned routinely throughout the course of the year by an experienced, insured company.
Throughout the course of a calendar year, homeowners should clean their gutters in March to clear out the branches, dirt and other winter debris so that they are ready for the “April Showers”; in June to clean out all the oak tassels, seed pods, ragweed, “helicopters”, and other debris that land all over our properties; in August to remove wind-blown debris caused by Summer thunderstorms; and then three times in the Fall: October, November, and December, to remove all the clogs caused by leaves that come down throughout the Fall season, before the winter freeze.
Once you follow these three simple steps, you will get every ounce of life from your new gutters, and you can sleep peacefully in every rainstorm!
Image courtesy of www.skiper-poselok.ru
