While summer brings all the joy of sunshine, heat, and blooming flowers, it also brings its treacherous friends; storms and rainfall. Central Virginia sees its highest frequency of storms throughout the summer months, and if you’ve started to wonder, “how do I protect my house during extreme weather?” you’d be right to start planning.
You may have heard the term “Gutter Diverter” thrown around when it comes to protecting your home from severe rainfall, but what is it? If you’re asking; when should you install a gutter diverter? Or, is my house fine without a gutter diverter? We have answers. So let’s help you out!
What are Gutter Diverters?
Gutter Diverters, sometimes known as splash guards, are items that are fixed onto gutters in certain areas of your gutter system. They’re often installed in valleys of gutters, also known as corners, which are most at risk for overflowing in the case of extreme rainfall, as excessive water flow is not easily directed around the corners of your house.
Here’s how it works: Most gutter diverters are made up of two barrier-like edges built at a 90° angle to fix directly within the corners of the gutter, but can come in other shapes to fit areas of the gutter that are vulnerable to overflowing. This optional component allows greater control over the direction of water flow, meaning the stream can be directed along the path of the gutter and guided away from areas that it might flood or cause water damage. This is an easy, affordable solution to leaky or overspilling gutters and hugely beats the alternative, a cascading stream of water during rainfall, creating a not-so-fun waterfall of property damage and flooding.
This optional component allows greater control over the direction of water flow, meaning streams of rainwater can be contained in the gutter system and guided away from areas that might flood or cause water damage, and it can be a home lifesaver in areas prone to storms, hurricanes or heavy rainfall like Central Virginia.
How Do I Know if I Need Diverters?
Anyone with a gutter overflow problem that experiences heavy rainfall at any point throughout the year, might indeed benefit from installing gutter diverters. If you have a traditional gutter system, meaning an open-top, half round gutter system without a gutter guard add-on, you’re likely to benefit from adding gutter diverters to your home.
In heavy rainfall the water overflows, creating significant problems in your home such as pooling into your home’s foundation, entryways, or simply waterlogging the ground in areas of water spillage. This can create serious foundational damage and other expensive property damage that can be avoided.
With a gutter diverter, this costly damage to your home can be avoided. But these aren’t the only benefits.
A gutter diverter is also valuable for:
- Prevent roof leaks and internal water damage
- Prevent gutter sagging and soffit & fascia rotting
- Prevent flooding in entryways leading to pooling inside your home
- Preventing damage to foliage, landscaping, and garden beds.
- Prevent slow movement of rainwater throughout the gutter system that could lead to rotting and debris build-up
Is a Gutter Diverter the Best Solution for Gutter Maintenance?
For all the reasons above, it’s clear that you get your money’s worth and more when it comes to installing a Gutter Diverter to prevent water damage to your property – this simple attachment can prevent a lot of larger problems. What a gutter diverter won’t do is protect your gutters from debris, reduce the amount of time you have to spend cleaning, or give your gutters a cosmetic makeover. If you’re looking for zero-clean gutters that look sleek and stylish, your best bet is one of our lifetime warranty gutter guards to solve your problems.
A gutter diverter for your rainy day problems or a K-Guard gutter system for your zero-maintenance gutter solutions are both available at One Stop Home Improvement Shop. If you’d like to know more about either, give us a call, rain or shine and we’ll be happy to talk to you for free about installing a gutter diverter in your home, or chat you through the benefits of our complete gutter guard system if you’re interested in hearing a little bit more.
