Ice dams form when snow melts off of your roof and refreezes near the edge. This happens when your roof is above freezing temperature, which is usually the result of a warm attic.

• In almost every home, heat escapes through ceilings into the attic and warms the roof directly above it.

The outdoor temperature may be below freezing, but a warm attic can melt the snow. The edge of your roof is not warmed by the attic, and so when the icemelt hits that area, it refreezes, creating a rim of ice. This chunk can grow, trap water behind it and suddenly you have an ice dam.

One easy way to prevent this is to keep your roof cold. This may seem obvious but impossible, so we’ve put together a few ways to best keep your roof from warming too rapidly.

1. Close up attic bypasses

One-third of the heat loss is through the ceiling into the attic of the average home. Most of that heat loss comes from air leaks caused by unblocked walls, gaps in drywall, cracks around light fixtures, plumbing pipes, chimneys and access hatches

Air leaks can be tough to stop, but not impossible. If you can plug the leaks under your attic insulation with foam, caulk, or other methods, it becomes fairly easy. Give us a call today to discuss how we can help you close up your attic bypasses.

2. Increase your attic insulation level

Your attic insulation should have 12 to 14 inches of fiberglass or cellulose. If you have less than 8 inches, you may have noticed ice dams in the past. Contact George’s Seamless Gutters to discuss installing new insulation in your attic.

3. Add roof and soffit vents

Attic vents draw in cold outdoor air and flush out warmer attic air, cooling the attic and the roof. Discuss adding roof and soffit vents with us today and we can work together to find the best style and size for your home.

Of course, a cold roof isn’t always the easiest solution. During winters with very heavy snowfall (remember that polar vortex?), you may still get ice dams, regardless. Some sections of your roof may even be impossible to keep cold. That’s when further strategies help to prevent ice dam damage.

Contact us at George’s Seamless Gutters to discuss your further options. We’ll always be realistic in your options and how we can help you eliminate the difficulties of ice dams and water damage.

Choosing the right color for your home’s seamless gutter may seem downright overwhelming. Do you match it to the trim? Roof? Use an accent color? What about if you have a brick home with many colors to choose from?

Don’t worry, we’re here to help. At George’s Seamless Gutters we offer virtually endless colors for your color gutter system, so we’ve dealt with Owner Indecision many times.

Here are our top 10 tips for choosing the right gutter color for your home.

1. Decide if the gutters are visible. If you can’t see the gutters from your front curb, you may not have to worry about what color they are. Also, panicking about what color gutters you have on the rear of your home might be fruitless–anyone standing in your backyard is unlikely to notice.

2. Choose the right material. We only use aluminum for our colored gutters. Why? They last longer and look better with our baked-on finish. If you’re in the market for copper or steel gutters, consider your color choice easy!

3. Check into the rules for colors your home has to follow. Before you choose a color, make sure that your county, city, subdivision or homeowner’s association doesn’t have specific guidelines regarding exterior colors in your home. The last thing you want is to be told they need to be a different color after having them installed.

4. Match the roof. Some may want to match their roof color so that the gutters look like an extension of the roofline and don’t draw attention to themselves.

5. Match the main exterior color. You may want to match the siding of your home, so that your gutters become less noticeable. And definitely, don’t pick a clashing color!

6. Match the trim. Think about accenting your home by choosing gutters that will match the trim on your doors and windows. We’ve seen this accent trick add instant curb appeal to homes and help to outline your home, especially if you have many roof lines.

7. Consider choosing more than one color. We’ve noticed a trend in matching the gutter and elbows to the home’s roof or trim, and then matching the downspouts to the siding of the house. This mix-and-match approach allows you to make sure your gutter system will blend into your home.

8. Consider choosing a copper color over getting copper gutters. Copper gutters are gorgeous, adding a touch of class to your home, but they can be costly. If you paint your aluminum gutters copper, however, you still get the allure of copper without the price tag and potential patina effect.

9. Make sure it’s worth the price for you. Obviously, you should check into the price of choosing color gutters for your home, especially if you’re on the fence about getting them.

10. Choose a contractor who can custom match colors for you. Some contractors can only offer you around twenty color options. At George’s Seamless Gutters, we offer a color matching service, so that the color you want is the color you get.

Make Standard Aluminum Gutters – Super Aluminum Gutters

Most of our Westchester and Fairfield County customers are unaware that our aluminum seamless gutters are available in an endless variety of colors. White aluminum gutters are the standard option, but a colored gutter system blends right into your home, accenting your trim or roof.

We can match most colors that you are looking for in your colored gutter system and we offer a color gutter matching service. If you can provide us with the color, we can match your gutters!

Our most popular colors are neutral browns, blending in with most homes, but choosing a copper penny color offers the look and allure of a real copper without the price tag.

Our color gutters, similar to our white gutters, have a baked-on, weather-resistant finish, so they will not oxidize as quickly as other traditional gutters, and our aluminum gutters have a life expectancy of 30 years.

If you’re having trouble deciding whether to match your gutters to your trim, fascia, siding or brick, we have an easy answer: you can mix and match our colored gutters! You can choose a bright accent color or we can also help you match complementary colors with your gutter system. Some homeowners choose to install a gutter run and elbows to match their trim color and then choose a neutral color to match the siding or brick of their home.

Contact us today to discuss adding color gutters to your Westchester or Fairfield County home!

Make sure your gutters are free-flowing ahead of this winter!

Gutter Guards are important to make sure your gutters are free-flowing ahead of winter. Here in Westchester and Fairfield, we all know that it only takes one good snowstorm to wreak havoc on blocked gutters. Having a blocked gutter system causes major problems for your roof, home, and surrounding landscape, but luckily, there’s a simple solution.

George’s Seamless Gutters recommends using gutter guards as a precaution year-round, but especially in the months leading up to winter, where ice dams, leaks, and overflows can cause serious damage to your home.

Gutter guards are perfect for Westchester and Fairfield because of the number of mature trees in our areas. These large trees are beautiful in fall, but once those leaves start to come down, your gutter can easily get clogged. Gutter guards keep debris of all kinds out of your gutter, allowing water to flow freely, protecting your roof, siding, and landscaping.

Gutter guards fit on top of the gutters of your home–you won’t even notice they’re there, working hard through every type of weather. The ingenious design of gutter guards allows water to pass through the grates easily but keeps leaves, sticks and other debris out of your gutter. Gone are the days of clogged gutters and your twice-annual gutter cleaning!

We offer gutter guards to suit and match every color and material of seamless gutter we sell. Whether your gutters are copper, steel or standard aluminum, our gutter guards will blend seamlessly (which is our favorite style, after all!). Although you won’t notice them, matching them to your gutter ensures that they look nearly invisible from all angles.

Give us a call today to discuss adding gutter guards to your Westchester or Fairfield home!