Choosing the best material for eavestroughs.

Eavestroughs can be made out of a few different materials. The most common materials are aluminum, steel, copper and vinyl. Aluminum is by far the most widely used material in North America because it can be formed into a seamless eavestrough and will not rust. Steel and copper can also be formed into a seamless eavestrough but steel is prone to rust and copper is at a much higher price point. Vinyl eavestroughs cannot be fed through seamless eavestrough machines. Because of this they are usually purchased in 10 foot lengths at hardware stores. It's rare to see a professional using this product and is usually purchased by homeowners attempting to do it themselves. Recently, we completely stripped a home of all its vinyl soffit fascia and gutters. You can view a video on some of the pitfalls of choosing vinyl:




Aluminum also has many advantages. It comes in a wide variety of colors and is compatible with a wide range of leafguards which are also made of aluminum. Aluminum gutters come in mainly 2 different thicknesses so it's important to choose the one that best suits your needs.

The thickness of .023 gauge is the most common thickness for our region and allows for the widest colour selection. We install about 95 percent of our eavestroughs with this thickness. It is the thickness we used in the very top picture which shows us hanging from it. Keep in mind that the leafguard we used called T-Rex greatly responsible for making it so durable. This thickness is more than adequate for most residential applications. The .023 gauge can also be made more durable by installing more brackets used to fasten the eavestrough to the home. I see many eavestroughs in the Toronto that look good from the ground but upon looking in from above there were very few fasteners used. The type and number of fasteners is as or more important than the thickness of the aluminum.

The thicker version is .032 gauge and we recommend for homes or businesses that have steel roofs and have problems with snow slides. Often with these roofs, a ton of snow can release at once and play havoc with the eavestroughs. When the T-Rex leafguard system is combined with this thickness it creates a very strong gutter but can be no match for tons of ice/snow sliding of at once. Therefore its very important to have the roofing company install snow stops to prevent the snow from sliding off. Most companies will not warranty damage due to snow slides on steel roofs. The .032 gauge is not as common as the .023 and therefore due to market demand it is available in fewer colors.

If you have any questions or comments to this post or any other please leave a response and I will do my best to respond promptly. We service Scarbrorough and North York as well as other areas in and around Toronto.

Also I do not mean to confuse you when I alternate between eavestrough and gutter. They mean the same thing. Gutter is probably more common in the U.S. than here in Canada.

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