Water is one of the natural elements that can cause quite a bit of damage in a very short period of time. There is a reason that the city codes take into account not only the slope of your driveway to the street but also take into consideration rain gutters for your property. While many Southern California’s give little thought to how we handle the rains (after all we aren’t Seattle) the reality is that having a great gutter system can save you from costly repairs.
A proper rain gutter system can help to protect the eaves on your home, avoid pools of water near your foundation, contribute to nicer living conditions and can even add to the aesthetics of your property.
Prefabricated Rain Gutter
Prefabricated rain gutters are the types you most commonly see at Home Depot and Lowe’s. You can piece together your rain gutter system by purchasing 10’ sections of gutters and the supporting connecting components, downspouts, etc. These systems are great because they are the most cost effective. Even though it could be tempting to complete this work on your own we would recommend having a professional installation of even the prefabricated rain gutters as cutting to proper lengths and ensuring you have tight connections is a skill that is developed over years of diligence.
Seamless Rain Gutter
A seamless rain gutter gives you the added advantage of minimizing the points of failure. A machine is brought onsite to develop gutter lengths that align to your property. Whereas the prefabricated pieces come in 10’ft lengths you can get up to 50’ lengths (unusual to need that long) with a seamless rain gutter. Minimizing the connection points allows you to minimize the points of failure in a gutter system.
Aesthetics
While not as common, when you are completing gutters for your rental, it is still possible to implement a gutter system that is a design element for your property. In areas of Long Beach such as Belmont Heights, Belmont Shore, or Bixby Knolls you can find wonderful examples of rain gutters that help to further enhance the architecture of the home. Whether it be a Spanish Style home or a Craftsman the use of copper gutters is often looked at as a design element and can help set apart the property from the competition. Combine a copper seamless rain gutter with an innovative downspout and you just might get a tenant who doesn’t want to leave. Keep in mind that generally copper is looked at as the most expensive to install, but it can last up to 50 years which just might make it a great investment for your property.
Cost
As with any feature on a rental property there is a cost to protect your property with rain gutters. You certainly could install your own gutters, but as is the case with many of our property owners we realize that outsourcing to a professional is often what is the most efficient. Should you decide on going with seamless gutters you can expect prices for aluminum to be around $11 a foot, Copper at $25 ft, steel at $13 a foot and vinyl at $7 a foot. There can be additional charges for two-story homes and removal of existing rain gutters if present. On average you can be prepared to spend in the range of $1,500-$2,500 for a typical property.
Protecting your investment with a rain gutter system is a great way to keep your property happily rented for years to come. When you want to find out how we could help find the best tenant who just might appreciate your passion for rain gutters we invite you to call us today at (562) 888-0247. If you want to have a quick check to see how much your property could fetch in rent we invite you to fill out our
Free Rental Analysis
where we perform a comprehensive comparison to share your rental stacks up to the competition.
