There are so many important components of a home that make it functional and keep your home’s structure safe, and that includes your eavestroughs. While these components might be seemingly insignificant and often forgotten about, your home’s eavestrough serves a critical function of diverting water and precipitation away from your home’s exterior to keep it safe from water damage.

As a homeowner, it helps to understand the components of the home and what each does to keep it operational. To help you better understand how your eavestroughs work, keep reading to find out about all the components of your eavestrough system.

Trough

The crux of the eavestrough is the actual trough itself. The trough is outfitted under the eaves – which are the edges of the roof that hang over the side of the wall. It’s meant to guide any water or precipitation off the roof and away from the foundation of the home, which therefore helps to protect the home from any water damage.

Downspout

This crucial part of your eavestrough system plays an essential role. Downspouts are tasked with taking water away from the roof and directing it away from the home’s structure. They’re hollow tubes that extend from the edge of the roof to the ground.

Downspouts meet a well or block at the ground that further helps to ensure that water is directed far enough away from the home. If the water is left to pool at the base of the home’s structure, it can cause major damage, especially if the water is able to make its way into the home.

Downspout bands keep downspouts in place.

Brackets and Hangers

Brackets help keep the eavestroughs firmly affixed to the roof. Hangers do the same by holding the eavestroughs firmly in place which provide them with structural support. They come in all sorts of different materials, colours, and designs so that they go well with the overall system.

Elbows

The purpose of elbows is to direct the water flow along the proper pathway when the eavestrough needs to turn. There are front elbows and side elbows. Front elbows are designed to direct water towards the front and back from the outlet, while side elbows are meant to guide water side to side.

Crimped Caps

The purpose of crimped caps is to prevent water from escaping from the end of the eavestroughs. These days, more modern aluminum eavestrough systems have crimped caps that are kept in place by caulking. In older eavestroughs systems, ends caps might be more commonly seen.

Mitres

Mitres are placed at the junctions and corners of the eavestrough system to help guide the proper direction of water flow. Pre-fabricated mitres are ready to be installed, though they are more susceptible to tearing and are not very discreet.

Hand-mitred corners, on the other hand, are hand-crafted and take longer to make, though they are made specifically to custom-fit an eavestrough system. As such, they are less noticeable than pre-fabricated mitres and have a better fit.

Joining Brackets

Also known as “seamers”, joining brackets are used to join two trough sections. In order to make sure an airtight and water-tight seal, it’s important that a sealant is applied.

Slope

Eavestroughs might seem linear, but they actually have a slight slope to make sure that water is able to flow downward. Without a slope, water would just pool in the eavestrough and sit there. Slope refers to the slant of the eavestrough and must have a very precise pitch in order to make sure that there is neither any pooling of water nor too much spilling at the end of the spout.

Need Help With Eavestrough Repair or Installation?

While it’s important and helpful to understand all components of your eavestrough system, it’s also important to have professionals regularly inspect it to make sure it’s always in proper working condition. If your eavestrough system is compromised in any way, that could spell disaster for your home.