Why is Self Storage Building Gutter Clogging Such a Big Deal
Self storage leakage and damage often occurs when self storage building gutter clogging causes the rain water to back up, leaking into the building. It can be a huge expense for the self storage unit owner.
Why is there such a Problem with Self Storage Gutters.
Most self storage facilities are metal buildings or steel buildings that are prefabricated structures and these prefabricated structures are built with prefabricated gutters that consist of a terrible design. The design of these prefabricated gutters also known as Sculpted Gutters, Sculpted Eave Gutter or Sculptured Gutters, is such that the front edge of the gutter is many inches higher than the back edge of the gutter, so that when the gutter clogs or the downspout experiences a blockage due to the buildup of leaves and debris in the gutter, the gutter fills up with water and then pours back into the building. Common sense and proper gutter design denotes that the front edge of the gutter should be lower than the back edge of the gutter so that when the self storage building gutter clogs, the water would pour outward to the front of the gutter, however water follows the path of least resistance and due to the design of these gutters, the water’s simplest path is to fill up and flow over the lower side of the gutter which is back into the building where it can cause interior damage.
Why Are Storage Gutters Built This Way
Self Storage facilities and storage building warehouses are often built with prefabricated metal building systems such as Butler Buildings or Morton buildings. These building systems are well suited for self storage facilities. These prefabricated building systems were originally designed as warehouses and commercial space that was not very sensitive to gutter leakage, so they designed a gutter with a very high front edge so that they could install it and have it hide any imperfections in the roof. From a waterproofing point of view, it doesn't make logical sense that the front edge of the gutter is higher than the back edge of the gutter, however from an aesthetic point of view, the high front edge of the gutter does a very good job at making the building look better. The high front gutter edge hides building imperfections, installs quickly and looks great.
Self Storage Building Gutter Clogging and Common Fixes
When self storage downspouts clog or when self storage warehouse gutters clog, the water can flow backwards into the building causing water on the floor of the self storage unit, damage to the contents, and an expensive insurance claim for the owner of the self storage facility. Self storage owners and metal building owners struggle with this problem because typical gutter covers and common gutter screens and common gutter filters will not fit self storage building gutters.
Why won’t Common Gutter Screens and Covers fit Storage Building Gutters.
Metal building gutters and self storage building gutters not only have a front gutter edge that is far higher than the back edge, but additionally, the front edge of the gutter is directly strapped or bracketed to the upper roof ribs making it impossible to install a gutter screen or a gutter cover. Simply put, the metal building gutter straps that extend from the front edge of the gutter to the upper ribs of the roof, are in the way and are obstructing the proper installation of a gutter guard, gutter screen or a gutter cover. The gutter straps are needed for strength and they are very strong and able to handle lots of weight, but they are in the way. Due to the existence of these gutter straps or gutter hangers, common gutter helmets, gutter filters and gutter screens can not be installed on self storage gutters. One additional complication is the fact that the back side of the gutter is so low, and relative to the front edge of the gutter the roof drip edge is so low, that it would be impossible to install a gutter screen without costing a ton of labor and having to make lots of holes and potential damage due to necessary forming and fastening of the screen. After all of that, at some point, the gutter protection device will need maintenance causing an additional concern.
Why is it Such a Self Storage Gutter Problem
Owners of self storage building gutters, are intelligent investors fixated on providing good safe storage for their customers. It makes no sense to them that their facility would be built with such a gutter defect: but it is true. When water enters the building, self storage building owners get a bad reputation and often will need to pay for the damaged contents because the leakage was not the renter’s fault. Self storage owners want to provide safe affordable storage for their customers without the risk of property damage, so when this damaging problem occurs, self storage owners throw their hands in the air in confusion as to how this ridiculous gutter clogging leakage problem arose in the first place: and they also experience lots of frustrations because common gutter guards and gutter screens will not fit metal building gutters.
Self Storage Building Gutter Clogging: A New Storage Building Gutter Fix.
Well, its not really a new gutter guard solution as this solution has been on the market since 2004 but metal building owners and self storage owners did not know about this solution until recently. So the brush gutter guard solution is not new, it is actually almost two decades old but metal building owners did not know about it and they are ecstatic when they discover that it can solve problems that they have been dealing with for quite some time
How Can Self Storage Owners Solve Gutter Clogging
Earlier in this article we explained how the odd shape and the counter intuitive design of these storage gutters is the reason that common gutter protection devices will not fit and will not work; however filling these gutters with Brush Gutter Guards will solve the clogging and keep the water from backing up and causing leakage. Common gutter guards will not fit, but brush gutter guards have been on the market and they do a fantastic job of solving gutter clogging as well as keeping debris out of metal building downspouts and leader pipes too; as well as in ground storm drains.
What Should Storage Facility Owners Do To Solve Gutter Clogging Backup.
To solve clogging in self storage building gutters and prefabricated metal building gutters in general like Morton gutters and Butler gutters, check out this page from the Gutterbrush web site. This page shows you commercial size GutterBrush products that you can purchase to solve the problem. You can get sizing samples which come with multiple sizes in one box so that you can set them into the gutter and determine which size fits your gutter best. Once you have determined the best size, purchase enough of that size of Gutterbrush to fill the entire gutter from “end to end”. Fill the entire gutter with Gutterbrush and leave it in place. Filling the entire gutter with Gutterbrush solves gutter clogging because debris can no longer clump together and flow to create a gutter dam and it can no longer clump together and flow to clog the downspout. The Gutterbrush full length gutter filter acts as a full length gutter strainer that filters debris, solves debris flow, solves debris clumping and solves gutter clogging. It is very fast to install because there is no fastening required, just fill the gutter. At some point down the line, all gutter guards may require maintenance and that is one of the best parts about Gutterbrush. At some point down the line, facility owners can simply remove the Gutterbrush, bang the debris out, clean the gutter, and reinstall Gutterbrush renewed and ready to protect against future storage facility clogs for years to come.