Until GutterBrush brush gutter guard arrived on the scene in 2004, there was no gutter protection device on the market to solve gutter clogging in metal building gutters. Traditional warehouse style metal building gutters are different from normal gutters; they have a very odd shape, and they are attached to the building differently. Due to the very specific physical characteristics of PEB gutters aka steel building gutters, standard leaf guards, leaf screens, gutter guards and gutter covers cannot be installed on these types of buildings. Through the rest of the article, we will explain the physical characteristics of these unique gutters as well as why gutter guards are now needed and why typical gutter guards will not fit and will not work to protect steel building gutters. Steel building gutters are also referred to as metal building gutters or PEB gutters ( pre-engineered building gutters ). More formally within the metal building industry, the term used to name these uniquely shaped gutters is “sculptured gutter”, “ sculptured eave gutter “ or “ sculpted gutter”.
Steel Building Popularity, Makes Sense
Forty to Fifty years ago, metal buildings became popular. Back then, metal buildings were considered mainly just for commercial and agricultural use. Metal buildings provided exactly what was needed for such commercial use. They provided a large span and lots of spacious square footage with very high ceilings. The building shell was strong and durable. There was nothing fancy about the metal buildings, they provided rough, wide open business space that could be used for many different functions, and they were also durable. One key aspect is that metal buildings are prefabricated and assembled on site providing installation speed which translates to a nice low economic cost. Due to the low per square foot cost, durability and functionality, It is no surprise that pre-engineered metal buildings have become very popular over the years and now can be seen commonly across the landscape all throughout the USA in commercial zones. Metal Building Form and Function Takes The Next Step Fifty Years ago, builders and professionals were very skeptical of the advent of metal buildings. Custom building was already extremely advanced and by comparison, metal buildings are "no frills" and quite rough. For example, most metal building roofs and walls have surface fasteners. Additionally, the roof and wall panels consisted of steel which is corrosive. Builders agreed that the lower per square foot cost was a huge advantage, but the quality of construction did not lend to a very finished exterior or interior. When faced with such objections, the metal building system salesmen would reply, " So What, with this low per square foot building cost, you can erect a metal building today and with the money savings compared typical custom construction, you save so much money you can just knock the building down and build a new one in 40 years when it corrodes away". Needless to say, 50 years later those metal buildings are still standing, and the owners have enjoyed a very low building cost. Due to an excellent speedy building process at a good price, these functional buildings are everywhere, and they are crossing over to uses other than commercial and agricultural. Metal buildings are now being built for more uses and even residences called Barndominums. People like good strong construction a t nice low price, so barndominiums, or metal buildings used as residences, are popping up all over the USA as the next great mc'mansion value.
Steel Building Gutter Guard Protection, More Trees.
With steel buildings growing more in popularity for new usage and residential usage, it makes sense that these types of buildings are now being erected closer to trees. People like trees and they like trees near their home, therefore the need for a gutter guard has become prevalent. Not only are these buildings being built closer and closer to the tree line, but also the trees have grown taller surrounding those 50-year-old commercial warehouse buildings. Whether it is a newer residential structure, or an old metal building warehouse, owners need metal building clog protection. Clogged gutters cause real problems for occupants, so regardless, they need a metal building gutter guard to avoid gutter overflow and the damage that results when a metal building gutter clogs.
Standard Gutter Guards Do Not Fit PEB Gutters and Metal building Gutters
Metal buildings are designed with very oddly shaped gutters. The design of the pre-engineered building’s gutter is intentionally strange. The gutter has a very high front edge which is much higher than even the drip edge of the roof. Pre-engineered gutters are designed this way intentionally to make the building look aesthetically pleasing. The front edge of the gutter is problematically high in order to hide the roof panels when one stands back and looks at the building from afar. The high front edge hides the ugliness and any crookedness of the roof panels and the high front edge of the gutter miters well with the upper rake trim (side trim) making a neat and clean appearance. The high front gutter edge also allows the gutter to be attached to the upper ribs of the roof with gutter straps, for great gutter strength. These gutters are referred to as Sculptured Eave Gutters or Sculptured Gutters and they are intentionally designed and engineered in a very odd nonfunctional shape, in order to make the building look better. Unfortunately, the outer edge of the gutter is so high that you cannot install a standard gutter screen or gutter cover because the outer edge of the gutter is many inches higher than the metal panel roof edge. Combine this high outer gutter edge with the fact that the outer edge is attached to the upper roof ribs with gutter straps, and you realize it would be impossible to outfit such a gutter assembly with a typical gutter screen, gutter helmet or gutter cover. You could never get a gutter cover to meet the outer edge of the gutter and also extend under the drip edge to accept the roof water; such a task would be impossible.
Sculptured Gutter Guard Protects Against Gutter Clogging
If someone were to attempt to outfit a sculptured gutter or sculptured eave gutter with a standard gutter screen, the installer would have an extremely difficult task. The technician would need to extend the gutter screen or gutter mesh from the outer edge of the gutter extending and connecting under the roof drip edge so that the rainwater and gutter leaves would drop down over the gutter screen giving it a chance to filter the gutter debris out while allowing the rain water to flow through. When attempting to accomplish such, the installer would find the task to be impossible because the gutter is attached to the upper roof ribs with gutter straps. The conflict here is that the screen can not be both on top of the gutter straps while also extending under the drip edge because the gutter straps impede the gutter screen from extending under the drip edge. The two assemblies just do not work together. The gutter guard installer does not want to install fasteners through the lower portions of the corrugated roofing panel because each fastener makes a hole that could easily result in a roof leak. Combining all the facts, characteristics, angles and risks leads one to the conclusion that common gutter guards and gutter screens will not fit Sculptured Gutters.
Sculptured Gutter Guard is Necessary for Metal Building Gutter Backup
The metal building gutter or Sculptured Eave Gutter certainly has an unorthodox design. In creating such a gutter design, they sacrificed “good roofing and flashing practices” in order to create a gutter design that is very strong, fits all metal buildings, hides the roof ribs, and connects neatly to the sculptured eave trim. ( The sculptured eave trim is raised to lap over the upper corrugated roofing rib.) This crazy design makes it even more important to keep the gutter from clogging. The front edge of the gutter is so high, it breaks the rules of roofing and flashing principles because if the gutter clogs and fills up with water, the high front edge keeps the rain water overflow from pouring over the outer gutter e edge, therefore when a metal building gutter clogs it often has the propensity to follow the path of least resistance and actually leak back into the building flowing over the back gutter edge before meeting the raised front gutter edge. Simple design makes it obvious that if you make the outer edge of a gutter channel higher than the back edge of the gutter, it stands to reason that the building will experience sculptured gutter backup and overflow back into the interior space of the building. Metal building gutter leakage carries a very high chance of risk that the gutter overflow will back up and leak into the building potentially causing interior water damage. Based on the design and the poor principles involved, metal building gutter clog protection is very important to avoid these inherent leakage risks that are built into the design. Let’s face it, if you stop the rain water from going “out”, then it will go “in”.
Sculptured Gutter Guard Brush is Flexible and Self Fitting
Now that you understand why standard gutter protection techniques will not fit sculpted gutters, and we can see how the high outer gutter edge increases the risk of gutter backup into the steel building, lets review a gutter guard solution that is very easy to install, is self-fitting, and requires no fastening. We like to avoid gutter guard fastening because it takes time and makes holes that could leak. GutterBrush makes flexible brush gutter guards that solve Sculpted gutter clogging. To solve sculptured gutter clogging or any gutter clogging, just fill the entire gutter with three foot lengths of GutterBrush brush gutter guards, and leave them in the gutter; filling the gutter. The brush gutter guard keeps the debris out of the gutter flow channel and keeps the gutter from clogging. You just slide 3-foot lengths of GutterBrush into the gutter one after the other filling the entire gutter; no tools or fastening are required. Once the metal building gutter has been filled entirely with GutterBrush, the gutter will not clog. Yes, debris will get stuck in the bristles but individual pieces of gutter debris were never the reason for gutter clogging; the individual pieces of gutter leaves and debris can no longer clump together and flow to create a larger plug that dams the gutter or plugs the downspout, so the gutter will not clog.
Steel Building Bird Guard Too
GutterBrush is a bird guard for metal buildings and PEB buildings. It does a great job at keeping birds out of metal buildings. Due to the fact that metal buildings have metal roofs that are corrugated, their shape is such that they undulate up and down. The corrugated roofing is very susceptible to bird entry, accessible from the gutter. Now imagine that this corrugated steel roof decking must lap down over the gutter, which is straight. Above the gutter, the upper portions of steel corrugated roofing create voids that typically are filled with foam closures. These openings or voids above the metal building gutter, must be filled with foam closures when the building was constructed, otherwise when birds enjoy bathing in the gutter, they can enter the steel building through the steel corrugated openings above the gutter. Well, unfortunately the foam closure pieces will often fall out, blow out, or get plucked out by birds. Once the closure is missing, birds or gulls in the gutter can easily enter the building and get stuck in there. The best repair is to replace the foam closure, but even if you leave the void open with the foam closure missing, filling the gutter with GutterBrush keeps the birds, doves, pigeons or starlings out of the gutter so they stop entering the building. The birds do not want to land on the rigid spiny bristles so it's a great bird guard and bird deterrent. Click here to learn more about Gutterbrush, birds and other uses.
GutterBrush has been made in the USA since 2004, and comes in 5 different diameters or sizes. All gutter guards require maintenance at some point and one of the key aspects of the GutterBrush system is that nothing is fastened. At some point if necessary, they are easily removed; you bang them on a hard surface and the debris drops out, clean the gutter and reinstall completely renewed. GutterBrush can be used over and over because it consists of high quality materials that are well fortified to last far in excess of its 10 year material warranty. For more information call 1-888-397-9433 or email info@gutterbrush.com. Check out Gutterbrush videos at this link. See Gutterbrush Frequently asked questions here.