Old World Gutters Old World Gutters Old World Gutters True Craftsmanship and Timeless Style Serving the Greater Boston area Old World
To understand why Old World Gutters are the best, it helps to know the basics. Let's review the main types of gutter available for residential installation today.
1.) Man Made
Vinyl gutters are inexpensive and won’t rust. They are common in
Composite gutters imitate wooden gutters. They have a similar design, but are made from a pre-primed composite material. Some are lined with a dark plastic material. They are relatively new to the market and have already developed a reputation for contraction and expansion that may allow gaps to develop at joints. They are not inexpensive.
2.) Wood
Some of the earliest gutters were made from wood. From V-shaped eavestroughs to half-round styles that are fully integrated into the trim that extends up the rake board, wood can be shaped and painted according to the style of the house. Their primary attraction is aesthetic.
Wood needs to “breathe” and requires considerable maintenance. The interior needs to be oiled regularly, and there is little if anything that can be used to keep debris out, so it requires frequent cleaning to prevent water from stagnating. Since wood needs to be a certain thickness, the interior will not have the same carrying capacity of a similarly sized gutter made from another material. And of course the exterior needs to be painted regularly. 3.) Metal The earliest metal gutters were copper formed into a half-round shape by hand. Custom gutters are still made this way. Subsequently, rolls of copper and aluminum were extruded through machines to produce various shapes. Aluminum K-style are the most common gutters in the Aluminum gutters can also be found in half-round styles. These are higher end products that require more installation time and have more options for installations. A number of photographs of half-round aluminum applications can be found in our Photo Gallery~Aluminum on this site. Galvalume is a new iteration of galvanized product. It is a steel product, cost efficient and strong, and is generally not painted for those who prefer a more post-modern, faintly industrial look. The coating is a zinc/aluminum alloy; again, factory applied. t is longer lasting than galvanized steel. Lead-coated copper also has an industrial appeal. Thought to extend the life of a copper application, lead-coating is losing favor. It is heavy, expensive, and potentially toxic. OWG does not supply lead-coated copper. Copper gutters are a high end choice, both aesthetically and practically. See our Photo Gallery~Copper for examples. It is common for copper gutters to last 50, 75, or even 100 years, depending on usage and the thickness of the original material. Heavy gauge 20 ounce is generally the heaviest used in residential applications and the weight favored by Old World Gutters. Copper does not need to be painted. It ages naturally from new-penny bright to a darker palate and eventually after 12 or more years to a green patina. The patina, which is actually oxidation, forms a protective coating. Should it be scratched or scraped it will naturally begin to re-form.
The capacity of the outlets in wood gutter are usually less than half that of outlets of other types of gutters, requiring more outlets and downspouts to drain properly. It can be quite expensive to install.
Impromptu comparison of wood gutter outlet and 4" copper outlet from above
Profile of wood gutter and 6" half-round copper
Galvanized steel is steel that is factory coated with zinc to prevent rust. Galvanized gutter systems, but mostly galvanized downspouts with wooden gutters, are usually painted. They are strong and inexpensive, but once the galvanized coating is breached, they will rust through.
Mixing metals--for example, copper gutter with an aluminum downspout-- is generally not advisable, but with certain barriers in place, it has been done quite successfully.
