Buying Copper Gutters for a New Home

When you are considering building a new home, it’s important to know what kind of materials your contractor is using to create the building. Because it won’t just be a house, it’s where you and your family expect to live for quite some time.  Homes that are built new have a higher likelihood of staying in the family or at least being passed on to the next generation for stewardship. As a roof is one of the most important protections for a home, an adequate gutter system is also important.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that there are areas that builders may scrimp on in order to keep the costs low. A sub-par gutter system is often a place to “cut corners” and this does not make them bad business owners. They are just trying to keep costs low but it’s something you should insist on knowing.

If you’re build is higher than $100,000, an aluminum gutter system just doesn’t match that kind of home. Larger, more robust homes must have a guttering system to match. Insist that higher end materials are used and installed on your home.  Here are a few pointers:

Choose Copper or Zinc. Of all materials, these are versatile yet strong when compared to the cheaper, flimsier metals. However, they last up to 10 times longer. There are churches built in the 1800s that still have their original copper installations.

Choose seamless-weld. Many gutter systems use accordion bends and crimping to sew the gutter sections together. Unfortunately, these will never remain water tight, especially in colder weather climates. A seamless weld is fusing the two sides of a copper sheet together to create one piece downspouts. It is also more aesthetically pleasing.

Make the investment. In the event that you decide to sell your home down the road, high-end guttering systems retain their value if not increase while an aluminum gutter system is often times used as a bargaining chip by your future buyers for a lower price. Don’t worry, an adequate security system and professional installer is more than enough to prevent someone from getting excessively envious of the metals you used.