I was told you can not have gutters in Maine because they cause ice backup.
This is far from true. A properly installed gutter system does not create ice. Ice on the edge of the roof is caused from heat loss through the roof. When you have a snow load on the roof, any heat loss will melt the bottom layer of snow. The melted snow travels down the roof and hesitates at the edge until there is enough water to fall off the roof. This hesitation is where the ice starts. The ice can either build up roof or build down in the form of icicles. When water drips into a properly installed gutter system it will run out of the gutter without freezing. If the water is already in the form of ice, it can fill the gutter but does not work up the roof. The ice will instead go over the front in the form of icicles on the front of the gutter. The only way ice goes up the roof is from heat loss, not the gutter. The key is a properly installed high quality gutter system.
The down spout is different. The down spout is closed to air and is always 10-20deg colder inside. Water going down the down spout can start to freeze on the walls of the spout. This can freeze solid and not function at 100%. This freeze does not harm the house itself and is not common.
I was told not to have gutters because they will not last with Maine winters.
This is only true if you have a low quality gutter system or if the gutter system was improperly installed. The retail stores offer a low cost gutter system that feels better to the pocket. The problem with this is the quality of the material is so low that these gutters usually do not last a couple winters. The other big issue that effects the life of the gutter is how it is installed. Anybody can install a gutter but not everybody knows how to do it properly. If you have the highest quality gutter system that was installed properly, you have a gutter system that will last......Even in Maine!
Let us know if there are questions you think should be here and I may make that happen.
Questions?? Call us at 1-877-375-4888 or e-mail dave@a1gutters.me
