FAQ
Eavestroughs are an essential element of any property. Their importance is not to be underestimated! On this page, you’ll find information about the products available from Les Gouttières X-Perts in the Laurentians and Eastern Ontario. If you can’t find an answer to your question on the list below, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Why should I install eavestroughs on my home?
Eavestroughs protect your home against damage caused by water and humidity.
First, they protect your eaves and fascia by preventing water leaks that would cause them to rot. They also keep water away from your home’s foundation to prevent damage as a result of humidity and basement infiltrations.
They also protect decks and patios, in addition to landscaping, which is vulnerable to erosion as a result of rainwater flows.
Do wet leaves stick to Alu-Rex products?
Only temporarily. Alu-Rex products have a smooth, perforated surface. Just like wet leaves can temporarily stick to the hood of a car, leaves and debris that land on the surface of Alu-Rex products are exposed to the sun and dry quickly.
And beneath those wet leaves, the eavestroughs are covered with little holes that allow the leaves to dry more quickly.
The wind easily blows away any dried leaves and debris:
A 10 km/hr wind will blow away wet leaves and around 100 pine needles per foot.
A 37 km/hr wind will blow away around an inch (2.5 cm) of pine needles per foot.
How much snow can Alu-Rex products handle?
Thanks to Alu-Rex products, the weight of the snow on the eavestroughs is significantly reduced. When the eavestroughs are empty, the weight of the snow is limited to what is bearing down on the Alu-Rex products. In addition, the eavestroughs remain functional and allow the water from melted ice and snow flow freely.
Without Alu-Rex products, your rain gutters, which are already filled with leaves and debris, fill up with ice and snow, which prevents them from working properly and evacuating water in spring. The total weight is also increased.
Can ice form on the T-Rex or Gutter Clean System?
Absolutely not. Water is continuously drained downwards since nothing – including snow and debris – can hinder its evacuation. Thanks to Alu-Rex products and Alu-Perf technology, the eavestroughs remain functional year-round.
Alu-Rex products do not cause ice to form. If icicles start to form on the side of your roof, we recommend making sure that your attic is sufficiently ventilated, with adequate thermal insulation.
Can installing Alu-Rex products cause water to leak through my roof?
No. Alu-Rex products don’t cause water infiltrations of any kind. The installation process doesn’t involve removing any shingles, and nothing will be nailed to your roof.
Watch out for products that are similar to Alu-Rex products, which require shingles to be removed. These products may cause water infiltrations. Over time, asphalt shingles dry out and are easier to break. As a result, lifting shingles to nail, screw in, or remove a rain gutter protector is a risky endeavour.
Remember that the manufacturer’s warranty that comes with asphalt shingles will be voided if the shingles are lifted, removed, or changed in any way.
What is the maximum weight that my eavestroughs can handle when they are installed with T-Rex?
The maximum weight that your eavestroughs can support with T-Rex is 250 lbs per linear foot (or 373 kg per linear metre). That’s 50% more solid than with nails and hangers.
What’s the use of T-REX if there are no trees around my home?
You might think there’s no reason to use the T-Rex continuous eavestrough fastening system if there are no trees around your home. However, the main qualities of T-Rex are its resistance, strength, durability, and quality.
With T-Rex, your eavestroughs will be more solid and durable than any other. New trees will have time to grow ... and your rain gutters will still be as good as new, 25, 30, even 40 years later!
People who purchase the T-Rex system want what is best for their eavestroughs, just like they do for their doors, windows, or any other aspect of their home.
How is the T-Rex continuous fastening system better than using spikes, nails, and hangers?
Spikes, nails, and hangers offer a certain degree of strength, but only around the few inches that surround the front of the eavestrough.
In other words, there are weak areas between the spikes, nails, and hangers. The T-Rex system provides resistance across the entire length of the eavestrough. There are no weak areas.
What's the difference between the Gutter Clean System and T-Rex, which are both Alu-Rex products?
The Gutter Clean System is an eavestrough protector that prevents leaves and debris from entering and clogging your existing rain gutters. This product is simply placed on top of the eavestroughs that are already-installed on your home.
T-Rex is a continuous fastening system for new rain gutters that holds your gutters to your home, making them 50% more strong than they would be with a traditional installation.
Both products offer the same Alu-Perf technology, which prevents leaves and debris from accumulating in your eavestroughs.
Do Alu-Rex products require maintenance?
The Gutter Clean System and T-Rex system are among the most effective rain gutter protection systems on the market. In most cases, a light breeze is enough to blow regular debris away.
In areas of the roof that are shielded or under shallow overhangs of sloped roofs, debris may accumulate if the wind isn’t able to blow them away. We recommend cleaning these areas from time to time to maintain the efficiency of Alu-Rex products.
How can water enter the eavestrough? There aren’t enough holes, and they are too small.
In-depth research and product development have led us to our exclusive technology: Alu-Perf. The product features 489 perforations every 19 inches (48 cm). These many perforations allow water to run at the same speed as it would in a 2 x 3 in. downspout (5 cm x 7.5 cm). Rigorous tests performed by an independent certification organization show that Alu-Rex products can drain more than 32.9 in. (836 mm) of water per hour over a distance of 20 ft. (6 m). More than 44,000,000 feet (13,411,200 metres) of Alu-Rex products installed around the world speak for themselves!
To give you an idea, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the world was 12 inches (305 mm) of water in one hour (Holt, MO, 1947). Comparatively, the Saguenay (Quebec) flood of 1996 involved 11 inches (275 mm) of rain in three days. Alu-Rex products would have been able to contain this entire rainfall in a single hour! And even three times more!
Note that back flows of water are usually caused by the eavestroughs themselves (if they aren’t large or deep enough for the roof’s surface) or downspouts (which are insufficient for the roof’s surface). Make sure that you have enough downspouts to prevent back flows. To do this, consider that a single downspout can evacuate the equivalent of 600 sq. ft. (56 sq. m) of roof surface.
All in all, if, when clean, your eavestroughs don’t cause a back flow of water during heavy rains, the Gutter Clean System and T-Rex won’t either.
Can Alu-Rex products support large flows of water?
Even when 100% of perforations are clogged (which never happens, because the wind blows away leaves and debris), Alu-Rex products can drain up to three times as much water as the largest rainfalls ever recorded.
How? Because wet leaves are still permeable. In fact, the water drips between the leaves, but also through the leaves and into the eavestrough. Water always finds its way through the perforations.
In addition, due to their exclusive design, Alu-Rex products have a basin that is around 0.4 in. (1 cm) deep. Lab and field tests show that this depth makes it possible to collect even more water while letting the wind do its work, i.e., blowing leaves, pine needles, and debris away from the surface.
Watch out for products that are similar to Alu-Rex products, which are completely flat. The lack of a basin can result in overflows.
Can’t I use a rolled-up plastic trellis or metal screen on my home instead?
It would be nice if a simple plastic trellis that costs $4/20 feet (6.1 metres) could do the trick, but such is not the case.
The openings on these types of products are much too large. They trap leaves and let debris pass through, creating fertile ground that winds up clogging your gutters and allowing vegetation to grow.
In addition, these products offer zero rigidity and will bend under the ice and snow.
In other words, these products will still require you to climb up a ladder periodically to clean your gutters.