The Benefits of Adding Gutters to a New Roof
Your roof and gutters work together to keep your home safe. They are protecting you, your family, and your belongings from water damage. However, when your roof or gutters fail, it can be a recipe for disaster.
Bad gutters can lead to unwanted water in your home. It can flood your basement and wreak havoc on old family treasures like photo albums and keepsakes.
Or, it can allow water to run down the exterior walls of your home and pool at the base, causing additional damage to your home. In the end, it could compromise the safety of your home and family.
Leaky gutters are a cause for concern that many of our clients have experienced. Rescue My Roof has worked with clients for a decade, ensuring their roofs and gutters are up to the job.
There are several benefits to replacing the gutters alongside your roof. A few include saving money, upgrading the curb appeal of your home, and more. And we’re here to walk you through them so you’ll know the right time to replace them: either with your roof or on their own.
Why Should You Replace Gutters and the Roof At the Same Time?
When you have a roof replacement done, it’s not necessary to add new gutters simultaneously. However, it can be beneficial.
Several reasons include:
- Slope accuracy
- Avoiding damage
- Making sure your roof is waterproof
Ensuring Proper Slope For Your Gutters
When the gutters are removed and replaced, contractors can double-check that the slope is enough to keep water flowing through the gutters.
When water rolls off of your roof and into the gutters, its journey doesn’t stop there. To avoid water build-up in the gutters that could cause them to overflow, they are slanted slightly so that water can continue to travel along the gutters and pour down in a designated spot.
When the gutters are angled incorrectly, it can affect the appearance of your house by making the roof-line look off. Or, if the gutters are angled too little, water will not be able to travel through them.
If you live in a place with a harsh winter, this could cause more icicle formation. Or, in the summer months, it could potentially cause water to run down the exterior walls of your home and harm the siding.
While any roofing contractor can achieve this same result by simply removing and reinstalling existing gutters during your roof replacement, it will save them time to complete the project then and there.
Avoiding Gutter Damage During A Roof Installation
If you haven’t noticed any damage or rust building up on your gutters, you may not want to replace them. If one chooses to keep their existing gutters, contractors might not remove them during the roofing process.
However, this could result in damage to the gutters. There may be a couple of dents left in the gutters that could impact their functionality. It could cause above-normal debris build-up or restrict water flow.
And if the damage is too severe, it could require the crew to come back to fix it (prolonging the project completion) or could require new gutters to be installed.
If the crew takes off the existing gutters and reinstalls them, this damage is avoidable. However, gutters tend to be pretty malleable, so there is no guarantee they won’t be damaged in this process.
If you are worried about the effects of your roof installation on the gutters, you may want to consider further adding new ones.
New Gutters Ensure Your Roof is Waterproof
The point of a roof and gutter system is to help keep water out of your home. No one is a fan of leaking or water damage- especially when it could be expensive to fix.
When you get new gutters with a new roof, all underlayments, like the ice and water barrier, can be applied underneath the gutters.
When contractors don’t remove gutters during a roof replacement, those underlayments are often installed against the gutters, increasing the chances of leaks.
To get the authentic, waterproof finish your roof and gutters create, it is beneficial to get new gutters and a new roof.
Installing Gutters and a Roof at the Same Time Can Save Money
Adding new additions to your home, like new gutters or a new roof, can be pricey. And not everyone’s budget allows them to tackle costly projects all at once.
If you can only budget for one project at a time, then getting the gutters installed separately from the roof could decrease monthly payments on your new roof.
However, if you can tackle slightly higher monthly payments to tack a new gutter installation onto the existing roofing installation, it can save you money in the long run.
You won’t have to pay for a crew to come back to your home for an additional appointment to install the gutters. Instead, they can do the gutters in the same appointment as your roof.
Additionally, gutters only add 2-3 hours at most to the roofing project. So the total roof and gutter installation can be done in a day. So you won’t have the added cost of installing gutters on a separate day. This can save you some money on labor costs.
Should I Add New Gutters to a Roof Installation Project?
Ultimately, the choice is up to you!
If you are worried about the budget and don’t want to tackle higher monthly payments, you may want to hold off on adding them to the package.
However, if you have evaluated your budget and can handle slightly larger payments- as gutters usually range $12-15 per square ft.– then this may be the ideal time to install gutters. And in the endgame, it can save you money, as you won’t have to pay for the cost of separate appointments.
And if you were concerned about water damage, leaks, and the overall safety of your home at the beginning of this article, then getting both done at the same time might be worth the price. $12-15 per square foot to have the peace of mind you deserve seems may be a small price to pay.
Fortunately, many roofing companies, including Rescue My Roof, offer gutter installation! If you live in the greater Milwaukee area and would like to schedule an estimate today to see how much both projects would cost together or separately, contact us today!
If you are interested in doing both projects at once but are concern about costs, read our pricing article to learn more: How Much Does a Roof Replacement Cost?