Gutter Guard Glossary - Gutter and Roofing Terms From GutterBrush
Below is a comprehensive list of common industry terms associated with roofing, gutters, gutter protection, and GutterBrush.
Alligatoring: Alligatoring is a rooftop condition that occurs when the seams open up or the tar and gravel cracks. This commonly happens to most tar and gravel roofs at the end of their lifespan, which is typically 10-12 years. In most cases, the roof should be replaced as soon as possible.
Aluminum Gutters: Aluminum is a moderately priced and rust-resistant material popular with newer installations. It comes unfinished or factory-painted. The downside is that aluminum tends to leak at joints because the metal expands and contracts too much for sealant to hold permanently. It also dents easily.
Apron Flashing: A horizontal flashing installed where the top end of a roof slope meets a vertical projection, such as a chimney or parapet wall.
Barge: A finishing at the gable end of a roof, fixed parallel to the roof slope.
BMT: Base metal thickness.
Box Gutter: A gutter not at an eave, typically at the base of two opposing roof slopes.
Bid: A formal offer by a contractor, in accordance with specifications for a project, to do all or a phase of the work at a certain price in accordance with the terms and conditions stated in the offer.
Brick mold: Trim used around an exterior doorjamb that siding butts to.
Built-up roof: A roofing composed of three to five layers of asphalt felt laminated with coal tar, pitch, or asphalt. The top is finished with crushed slag or gravel. Generally used on flat or low-pitched roofs.
Cap flashing: The portion of the flashing attached to a vertical surface to prevent water from migrating behind the base flashing.
Capping: A cover at the top of a gap that weatherproofs, typically at the ridge of a pitched roof.
Chimney Gutter: See Soaker.
CGI: See Corrugated Roofing.
Cladding: Sheeting that encloses a building-roofing and walling.
Copper Gutters: Copper is an expensive material that is strong, durable, rust-resistant and nearly maintenance-free. It will weather green unless you coat it with a clear sealant. It also needs to be installed by a professional.
Counter (or over) Flashing: A flashing dressed down as a cover only, over a separate upstand.
Deck: A roof's deck consists of sheathing and underlayment called roofing felt. The material used to finish the roof determines deck types. Most roofs require solid plywood or oriented strand board sheathing, while wood shingle and tile roofs need spaced board sheathing.
Dormers: Dormers create additional openings in your roof, which will affect your roof installation. One notable area is at the joints, which will need to be sealed with metal flashing. The style or dormer can also affect your roofing material. A shed dormer will decrease the slope of your roof over the opening. A gabled dormer often has higher pitches which will shed water more easily.
Downpipe: A pipe to carry roof water from gutters and roof catchments to drains or storage tanks.
Drainage: A system of gutters and drainpipes that carry water away from the foundation of a house.
Drop: See Pop.
Drop Outlet: Formed piece that serves as the hole from which the water travels from the horizontal section of the gutter to the downspout.
Eaves Gutter: A roof gutter attached at an eaves overhang.
Elbow: Pre-finished angled piece for directing water flow.
Electrolytic (galvanic) Corrosion: Corrosion resulting from the contact of two different metals when an electrolyte (like water) is present.
End Cap: Flat formed piece that is placed at the end of a gutter section.
Expansion Joint: A joint in a long run of cladding, gutter or flashing designed to allow for thermal expansion and contraction.
Fall (slope): The slope of the roof or gutter, often expressed in degrees, or as a ratio of vertical height to horizontal distance (e.g. 1 in 20).
Fascia (fascia board): A flat board that runs horizontally along the eaves of a roof, typically capping the ends of the roof rafters to give the roof edge a more finished look and provide a base for attaching gutters.
Fixings Screws: nails or clouts used to fasten cladding to a building structure.
Flashing: A material, usually metal, used to waterproof the junction between two intersecting roofs and/or wall surfaces. At a masonry wall, it is often built into the mortar.
Galvanized Gutters: Galvanized gutters are strong and inexpensive, although they can rust.
Galvanized Steel: Steel sheeting protected against corrosion by a zinc coating applied by the continuous hot-dip process.
Girth: The width of the blank strip from which a profile is rolled (usually refers to gutters and flashings).
Gutters: Gutters are the horizontal channels that are attached to the roof edges and used to draw water or melted snow down and away from the house and its foundation. Most gutters consist of gutter sections, drop outlets and downspouts. Gutters can be constructed of aluminum, galvanized steel, vinyl, wood or copper.
Hanger: Flat strap that is installed under the roofing matierial that holds up the horizontal section of the gutter.
Hanging Flashing: Side, front, or back cover piece used to prevent entry of water between abutting surfaces and other gutters, flashings and soakers.
Ice Dams: Ice dams are formed when heat from the attic melts snow at the ridge or peak of the roof causing an "avalanche" of snow and ice to overflow the gutters. The melted water can then back up under the shingles and work its way into the house.
Inside Mitre Box: A corner piece of the horizontal section that is deflected in.
Leader: A pipe that carries rainwater from the gutters to the ground, sewers, or wells.
Linear feet (often called Lineal feet): A linear foot is the same as regular feet. It is a one-foot length of any long, narrow object. No conversion is necessary. If something is 6 linear feet tall, it is 6 feet tall. That just means when measuring linear feet contractors are not taking the width into account. If you bought 100 linear feet of gutter, laying them down end to end would stretch for 100 feet, it wouldn't matter how wide the gutters were.
Mansard: A roof built at two pitches, the steeper pitch commencing at the eaves and the flatter pitch finishing at the ridge.
Nozzle: See Pop.
Offset: A pipe fitting that directs a downpipe from the gutter, under the eaves soffit and down a wall.
Oil Canning: Variation from flatness of sheet metal, creating undulations along the surface. The result is poor appearance and potential ponding.
Outside Mitre Box: A corner piece of the horizontal section that is deflected out.
Pan: The flat portion between the ribs in a pan-type preformed sheet.
Parapet: A wall on the perimeter of a building that projects above the line of the eaves.
Penetration: A projection through the roof, e.g. vent pipe, chimney or rooflight.
Pierce-Fastened: A method of fixing cladding by means of a screw or nail which pierces the cladding.
Pitch: The angle at which a horizontal section of gutter is tilted in order to force water to flow toward a downspout.
Ponding: Pooling of un-drained water on a roof.
: A short fitting in a gutter sole, where rainwater leaves the gutter.
PVC Gutters: PVC, or vinyl, is a tough, maintenance-free, moderately priced material popular with newer installations. Vinyl gutter systems are favored by some because they are lightweight and can be easily snapped or glued together. However, vinyl gutters are not recommended for hot, sunny climates where they tend to become brittle, crack and fail quickly.
Rainhead: A box-shaped receptacle sometimes used between gutters and downpipes to provide an external overflow point.
R-Value: A value given for the resistance to heat transfer of a roof or wall system.
Rib: A longitudinal up-stand in cladding.
Ridge Capping: Formed metal designed to weatherproof the junction at the apex of opposing roof slopes.
Ridge Vent: A ridge vent is a special vent that sits along the top ridge of your roof. Like other vents, it allows your attic to breathe, but it sits underneath the roofing material, making it less visible than standard vents. Ridge vents help to prevent ice dams and improper snow melt off.
Roofing Felt: Roofing felt is the protective layer that sits between the roof sheathing and the shingles.
Roof Pitch and Slope: Roof pitch and roof slope are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they actually mean different things. Slope is described in inches of vertical rise per foot of horizontal run. For example, a gently sloped roof that rises 4 inches for every 12 inches of house covering is said to have a 4-in-12 slope. Roof pitch is expressed as a fraction, the ration of rise to the total span of the entire roof. The same gentle 4-in-12 slope translates into a 1:6 pitch.
Roof Surface: A roof's surface is the area on which all the roofing material sits. Roofing surfaces can be made of a variety of materials. The most common material in the U.S. is plywood with a covering of sheathing, felt and roofing shingles.
Run: A straight section of a horizontal gutter length. A Gabled Roof has 2 runs front and rear. A Hip Roof has 4 runs.
Saddle Strap: See Straps.
Sarking: A membrane to collect and discharge clear of the structure any water that may penetrate a roof or wall cladding.
Shingles: About 80% of homes in the U.S. have asphalt shingle roofs. These are constructed of 12 x 36 inch sections that look like individual shingles when installed.
Shoe: A fitting used in a downpipe, to change direction of the downpipe by about 45 degrees.
Soaker (gutter): A small gutter located on the upper side of a chimneystack.
Soaker (flashings): A side cover piece extended over a roof cover and over-flashed with a hanging flashing. Formed metal designed to weatherproof the perimeter of roof protrusions or penetrations. Soaker flashings are usually positioned under rather than over the surrounding metal roof.
Soffits: Soffits are vents under the roof overhang that allow your attic to breathe.
Sole: The internal, bottom surface of a roof gutter.
Splashblock: Plastic or concrete surface put under a downspout to direct water away from the house.
Spreader: A downpipe-tee or elbow fixed at 90 degrees to the roof slope used to spread storm water over a greater area of the roof.
Spouting: See Gutters.
Straps: Flat hangers that are nailed into the house to hold the downspouts in place.
Sump: A roof gutter pit used to connect downpipes to internal roof gutters.
Thermal Stress: Stress due to expansion and contraction caused by changes in temperature.
Trays: See Pan.
Valley Gutter: A gutter at the bottom intersection of two sloping roofs (also called a valley flashing).
Valley Boards: Timber or profiled metal laid under a valley gutter to support it.
Vinyl Gutters: See PVC Gutters.
Water Diverter: Similar to gutters, a water diverter is a piece of metal that helps to control the flow of water as it drains from the roof.
Zincalume: Steel sheeting protected against corrosion by an aluminium-zinc coating.
120 Foot House Pack
For 5 Inch Standard Rain Gutters
Enough GutterBrush Gutter Guard to completely protect most homes.
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