Six Reasons to Use Metal Rain Gutters on a Steel Building
Why should you include metal building gutters and downspouts on your steel building order?
In one word: PROTECTION.
Metal Building Gutters for Self-Protection
The first job of gutters is to allow people to enter and exit the building without dashing through a drenching waterfall, as sheets of water rush off the roof during a thunderstorm. Choosing to add gutters to your metal building package keeps you and your visitors nice and dry.
Metal Gutters Increase Leak Protection
Without metal rain gutters, rain cascades off the building roof and straight down the walls. The runoff may leak inside, invading the structure and dampening the building’s insulation or contents.
Water traveling down the side of the building wedges under the seals. If the water then freezes, it can cause breaks in the seals, increasing the likelihood of greater leaks the next time.
In addition, pooling water around garage doors seeps inside, staining the floor. Over time, the standing water rots wooden doors, or discolors and rusts steel doors.
Steel Building Gutters for Foundation Protection
Rainwater not diverted from the base of a building by metal rain gutters inflicts massive damage on a foundation. In fact, excess water can literally compromise the structural integrity of the building itself.
Buildings with basements face the highest risk of water damage.
Heavy rain sheeting down the side of a building hits the ground with considerable force. Pooling around the base of the structure, the water may invade the building itself.
Worse yet, repeated rainfall or exceptionally heavy downpours can trap standing water around the building, allowing water to seep under a slab foundation. Water beneath a slab washes away the supporting soil. Portions of the foundation settle, sink, and shift. Cracks appear in the concrete slab.
Clay-rich soils expand when saturated with water. This too creates pressure on foundations.
Repairing a damaged foundation is possible. However, foundation repairs are aggravating and expensive.
Metal Gutters and Landscaping Protection
Downpours flow off roofs and crash heavily onto plants surrounding the building. Rain pounds landscaping, damaging tender plants.
Metal gutters guard plants by removing cascading rainwater safely away from your structure.
Metal Gutters Offer Aesthetic Protection
Without gutters and downspouts to turn excess water away from the structure, rain hits the ground and splashes mud onto the building. It is both unsightly and destructive.
In fact, certain types of soil discolor exterior materials, permanently staining them.
Using gutters eliminates such backsplash.
Steel Building Gutters Provide Financial Protection
Replacing landscaping, repairing leaks, and fixing foundation problems is expensive.
Moreover, insurance policies usually do not cover water damage problems. In fact, most property insurance policies do not cover any flood damage.
Conclusion
Avoid water problems before they happen. Include a gutter and downspout package with your other metal building accessories on your steel building order. For part two of this series, see How to Collect Rainwater from Gutters.
RHINO Metal Rain Gutters and Downspouts
Over 60% of RHINO Steel Building Systems customers include our high-quality metal building gutters and downspouts with their RHINO building orders.
Here’s why:
- RHINO’s 26-gauge steel building gutters are 7” x 7”— large enough to handle even exceptional downpours.
- These gutter systems come in 10’ or 20’ sections.
- Downspouts are 4” x 5”.
- The steel rain gutter systems are easy to install— and hard to beat.
- RHINO offers metal rain gutters and downspouts in a wide choice of colors to match or complement any trim.
Call RHINO now for more details about our affordable steel building gutters and our other metal building accessories. You may reach us at 940.383.9566.
Download a free RHINO brochure.
(Updated 10-21-2020. Originally published 8-1-2014.)