How to Protect Your Gutters During Amarillo’s Heavy Hail and Wind Storms

Located right in the heart of “Hail Alley”, Amarillo homeowners with wind gusts regularly in the 60+ MPH range, know that your gutters are the first line of defense against every severe storm to hit the Texas Panhandle. Homeowners are wise to make sure their windows and roof can withstand Mother Nature during severe weather, but the gutter system often takes the brunt of the beating and when it fails, the damage only gets worse.

Severe weather can be the perfect recipe for gutter destruction: Hail impact creates dents and punctures; high winds pull gutters off the fascia and break hangers; wind blown debris gets lodged in the system, making it inoperable when it’s needed most.

This Guide will show you how to protect, maintain, and upgrade your gutter system so it can withstand the worst Mother Nature has to throw at it in Amarillo.

Your gutter system is the last line of defense between your home and storm damage, but that line won’t hold unless you do some preparation work long before the hail or heavy rain starts.

Clear Debris and Test Flow

When clogged gutters meet heavy rain during a hailstorm, the water backs up under the roofline, gets soaked into your fascia boards and soaks right over the side of the gutters closest to your foundation.

• The Solution : Clean your gutters twice a year: before the summer storm season and after the fall leaves.
• Testing : Hose down your gutters to ensure that all the debris has been removed and the water flows into the downspouts.

Inspect and Tighten All Attachments

Walk around the outside of your home and closely inspect how your gutters are attached. Winds will find every loose hanger and gap between the gutter and fascia and exploit it to create problems.

• Loose or bent hangers?
• Gaps between gutter and fascia?

Strong winds will find every loose hanger and gap between the gutter and fascia and exploit it to create problems. Modern hidden hangers fastened with sturdy screws are much stronger and more wind-resistant than the older spike-and-ferrule systems. Upgrade your gutter hangers to hidden styles if your gutters still use spikes.

Trim Overhanging Trees

Any branches that scrape against your roof or hang over your gutters present a double threat: they constantly drop debris, and during high winds, they become dangerous projectiles. Keep trees trimmed back at least three feet from your roofline.

Proactive Upgrades: Building a Storm-Resistant System

While most roofing and gutter systems in mild climates can be made of thin-gauge aluminum, gutters around here have to be stronger to survive hail damage and to stand up to Amarillo’s often severe thunderstorms.

Upgrade Your Gutter Material and Size

When it comes to materials, gutters aren’t all created equal. If you live in a mild weather region, thin-gauge aluminum gutters may suffice. But in the Panhandle, we need to think bigger.

Heavy-Gauge Aluminum: 0.032″ or thicker for at least double the hail resistance of standard gutters.

Galvanized Steel: The big leagues of gutter material. Super-strong and just about the best at withstanding large hail impact or wind deformation.

Size is important as well. In the time it takes to turn around, our summer deluges can fill a 5″ gutter. Six-inch K-style gutters move 40 percent more water volume, so they won’t be as easily overwhelmed by Amarillo’s torrential rain events.

The Seamless Advantage

Seamless gutters are exponentially better for high-wind prone areas like Amarillo.

Every seam in a traditional sectional gutter system is a potential point of failure, a place where the gutters can leak, separate, or blow apart due to wind stress. Seamless gutters are custom fabricated to fit your home’s exact measurements, making one continuous run with very few joints. This vastly improves the structural integrity of your entire gutter system.

Gutter Guards: Your Hail and Wind Defense System (The Structural Advantage)

A top-notch gutter guard is one of the most intelligent home investments you can make in Amarillo.

• Debris Block: Micro-mesh is very effective here for a specific reason—it does a great job keeping out the fine debris our Panhandle homes battle with regularly: dust, shingle grit, and windblown soil and debris.
• Structural Support: A correctly installed guard system provides structure, a strong shield right across the whole gutter barrel, and helps the gutter stay in good shape when it’s pelted with hail and blown around by high winds.

Foam inserts and brush-style guards will clog up with dust and fine debris, and they add no structural support in big weather events.

Post-Storm Assessment: What to Do After the Hail Stops

After a hailstorm, when it’s safe to step outside, it’s time to assess the situation.

Safety First

Safety should be your first concern, which means do not inspect your gutters in the middle of or right after a storm. Wait until it is completely safe to venture out and make your assessment (downed power lines, unstable surfaces, etc. ).

Inspect from the Ground

You can actually glean quite a bit of information about your gutter system’s condition without climbing a ladder. Start by looking for these telltale warning signs:

• Loose Sections/Gaps : If the gutters are pulling away from the fascia.
• Evidence of Overflow : If landscaping near the downspouts has been washed out, or if there is a trail of mud splatter on your siding, it is an indication of clogs or pitch issues.
• Visible Dents : Visible signs of hail damage on gutter faces or downspouts.
• Downspouts : Make sure they are properly connected to the gutter and haven’t been kinked, crushed, or knocked loose.

If you know your roof has sustained hail damage, the chances are very high that the gutters have taken damage as well, but it’s hard to confirm from the ground. What’s more, the fascia boards and sub-roof structure to which the gutters attach may have suffered unseen damage.

Take photos of all damage for insurance purposes , but contact a professional for a full inspection so any hidden structural problems can be found and the whole system can be returned to proper working order.

Your Neighbor for Gutters in Amarillo

The key to defending your gutters against the ravages of Amarillo weather isn’t waiting for the next tornado siren. It’s proactive maintenance and strategic upgrades before the next big storm comes. We are your local Amarillo experts who know Panhandle storms like we know our own homes.

Don’t wait until the next storm warning. Contact New Vision Exterior Solutions to schedule your free Storm Readiness Inspection today. We will help you find the unseen damage, strengthen your system against future storms, and put together the paperwork needed for your insurance claims.

The post How to Protect Your Gutters During Amarillo’s Heavy Hail and Wind Storms first appeared on New Vision Exterior Solutions.

The post How to Protect Your Gutters During Amarillo’s Heavy Hail and Wind Storms appeared first on New Vision Exterior Solutions.