Does My Florida Home Need Gutters?

If you are living in Florida, one of the things that you might want to know is if it’s important for your house to have rain gutters. A lot of people think that every house needs to have gutters on it. But that’s not necessarily true. There are some reasons why having rain gutters may not be necessary. Below are 6 instances in which your house might not need to have gutters.

· Your house has a roof overhang that’s 6-10 inches wide
· Your house has an apron made of stone, gravel or concrete surrounding it and there’s enough drainage for supporting it.
· The slope of the ground is away from the home.
· You have a very shallow roof.
· You’ve already installed a rain diverter that is effective.
· The area in which you live does not get an abundance of rain.

For people who live in Florida, that final one is the biggest problem. Florida gets a lot of rain, so it’s usually a good idea to install gutters when you live in Florida. A good example is Wesley Chapel, which gets over 54” of rain each year. That’s a great reason to buy gutters and have them installed.

There are a lot of mistakes that people make regarding gutters. Below are some of the mistakes that people make.

· Taking your builder’s word for it – If you’ve been living in a home that is newly constructed, you may have been told that the house was built so the ground’s sloping away from it and that you have ample runoff. They may try convincing you that you won’t have to worry. But they’re simply trying to cut down on costs. A builder will often dig out ground so that it’s sloping away, but dirt often settles while the refill is happening. You may not even know that it happened. If you’re noticing water that’s pooling around your home’s base, you probably should get gutters quickly.

· You bought a home that doesn’t have one so it’s okay – You may think that just because the house you bought doesn’t have them, that you don’t need them. Houses are sold without the gutters for many reasons. A homeowner might just remove the old gutters and don’t replace them. Maybe they don’t like to clean them or they didn’t have the money for replacing them.

If you aren’t sure whether or not you absolutely need gutters on your Florida home, you might want to talk to someone who is a professional and who can give you advice.