Knowledge about any part of your house is very good information to have, roof’s gutters basically control the movement of water from your roof all the way to the ground and in some cases to the water tank if you do have rain harvesting. If the rain water is not controlled it would just drop from your roof to all over the place including dripping into your window. What the gutters do is to channel the water to your drain or your plants in the garden. Gutters can clog and what normally would cause them to clog are leaves which fall from surrounding trees in or next to your property.
Roof gutters are made of various materials that a prospective buyer can choose from mainly aluminum, copper, plastic, zinc, galvanized steel, wood and vinyl. Obviously the buyer would select the material based on a number of aspects regarding the material. Durability is one of them roof gutters are outside and are always exposed to the harsh sunlight of South Africa and heavy rains. One material which is highly recommended for durability is aluminum. Another aspect to consider when choosing a material is maintenance, the worst choice in this case would be wood as is it has the highest maintenance rate out of all these materials because gutters channel water so the wood would have to be conditioned in such a manner that it does not absorb the water as it is channeling from the roof. If anything the only reason why people would choose wood is purely for looks and style and not for any other reason. You also have to consider geographical area, when it comes to coastal areas rust is very common and prominent so in that case it would be very wise to choose a material which cannot rust like plastic rather than choosing zinc as it can rust quite easily. Then of cause you can have two main types of designs one being called the U style and the other the K style. Researching as much as possible would be a very good idea because not only are you looking for the best shape and material but also the best possible price.