Why Do I need "SUPER GUTTER"?
In short, to protect your wood fascia from rotting, and to prevent your patio from flooding during heavy rains!
 
If you have a screen enclosure that is attached directly to the wood fascia on your home, you need a SUPER GUTTER to prevent the water running down your screen enclosure beams and rotting all of your wood fascia. All of the metal on the enclosure attached to your home is hollow, and holds water and moisture for prolonged periods of time which causes wood rot and expensive repairs. Super Gutter installed properly prevents this problem by draining all of the water from your roof away from the wood, and by providing a structural barrier between the enclosure and your wood fascia. Super Gutter installed properly meets the Florida Building Code, is engineered to 140 MPH, and adds stability to your pool enclosure. It should not leak when installed properly, and should not have any seams or joints unless there is a portion on your roof in your enclosure longer than 40 feet. Then the joint should be sealed properly and should not leak which will cause your wood fascia to rot.
What exactly is a "SUPER GUTTER"?
A SUPER GUTTER is a heavy guage aluminum extruded gutter with a rectangular shape that comes in 5" and 7" widths. The 5" is .080-.090 guage thick aluminum that is almost 1/10th of an inch thick. The 7 inch version is deeper and wider and is .125 guage which is 1/8th inch in thickness. SUPER GUTTER was originally designed to be the primary gutter where a screen enclosure or pool enclosure is located on a home. It is 4 to 5 times thicker and 20 times stronger than regular gutters to support the weight of the pool/screen enclosure. It has 3 main functions which are to keep the water from the roof off the back or side patio deck, support the weight of the screen enclosure, and most importantly keep water from contacting the wood fascia on the house. This prevents the fascia from rotting and prolongs the life of the roof structure. Another benefit, is that it keeps mold and leaves from gathering,decomposing and staining the patio. SUPER GUTTER is actually a product that has been engineered with specifications and the proper installation meets all Florida Building Code requirements for hurricane wind zone specifications. It has recently in the last few years been installed on commercial buildings because it is so much stronger and more durable than house gutter or commercial box gutter.
What is the difference between SUPER GUTTER and seamless gutter or "house" gutter?
There are many differences between these 2 products;
- First, SUPER GUTTER meets all of the Florida Structural Building Code requirements for hurricane protection.
- Super Gutter, is 10-15x stronger and primarily designed for patio areas, although many homeowners have elected to install them on the rest of their homes because of the sleek look and durability.
- Seamless gutter or "house" gutter comes in a roll and is bent or shaped at the site with a gutter machine. It is rolled out at the pre-measured lengths. SUPER GUTTER comes in pre-packaged lengths up to 40 foot lengths so any run on a house up to 40 linear feet is also seamless if 40 foot sections are used by your SUPER GUTTER company.
- The installation process is totally different. SUPER GUTTER is installed with 3 inch long bolts to the Truss tails, sub fascia and should have an aluminum angle bracket between the Super Gutter and Fascia to support a fully loaded gutter. The beams on the screen enclosure are custom cut to fit the width of the SUPER GUTTER. Seamless gutter is nailed to the house with 8-9 inch long gutter spikes and supported by brackets or pickets.
- Seamless gutter usually comes in 6" and 7" widths. Most companies only carry 6" machines, so they can only install 6" seamless gutter. SUPER GUTTER is 5 inches and 7 inches which is considered the "Cadillac" of roof drainage systems.
- SUPER GUTTER is the only type of structural gutter designed to support screen enclosures.
- SUPER GUTTER comes in 2 colors, white and bronze which resembles dark brown. It is designed to exactly match the aluminum colors on a screen enclosure. Seamless gutter comes in an array of colors to match the color scheme of the home.
How strong is SUPER GUTTER?
Both the 5inch and 7 inch versions are engineered to meet 140 mph wind speeds which is the South Florida Building Code requirements. (Seamless gutter does not have the same requirements since it is not designed to support screen enclosures. This is why so many seamless gutters were damaged or actually blew off the homes during Hurricane Wilma.)
Where does the screen go?
SUPER GUTTER has a spline groove which is designed to hold the screen and the rubber spline that is used to secure it. In many applications, 1x2 patio or 2x2 patio which are aluminum extrusions on your screen enclosure will also hold the screen and spline.
Can SUPER GUTTER be painted?
Usually it does not require painting, however; if a self etching primer is used first, it can be painted to match the color scheme of a home. This is often done when SUPER GUTTER is installed in the rest of the home as an alternative for seamless gutter.
Why do they call seamless gutter seamless when it has a seam or joint in every corner?
Great question. It is actually seamless on the length of the installed gutter between the corners. All the corners are seamed like SUPER GUTTER, and sealed with caulk. The seam in the SUPER GUTTER is actually stronger, because the entire gutter is overlapped sealed and screwed together, and then sealed again with polyurathane caulk.
When you disconnect or "back off" the screen enclosure, is my enclosure safe?
Yes, all of the enclosure beams are supported by 2x4 supports and the outside is also supported at key points to reduce side movement and uplift so the enclosure does not move while detached from your house. The reason this is done prior to the roofer starting work on the roof is so they can easily change any fascia that is rotten or damaged usually hidden behind the exsisting metal attached to the fascia.
Can a SUPER GUTTER be retrofitted into our existing screen enclosure?
Yes, we do this over 500 times each year. After the enclosure is disconnected from the home all the beams are cut with a template to match the angle of the wood fascia and the size of the SUPER GUTTER. The SUPER GUTTER is then installed with all the fasteners per the Florida Building Code, and the beams are attached to the SUPER GUTTER. This is usually done when you are installing a new roof. For a roofing contractor to complete this job properly, the screen enclosure must be temporarily separated or "backed away" from your home so the roofer has easy access to change the metal drip edge and replace any rotten fascia. Then a SUPER GUTTER is installed on your home to protect your roof and wood fascia.
What is the difference between mechanical railing and welded fencing or railing?
Mechanical railing is and extruded aluminum product that is precut and preassembled attaching each section of rail with sheet metal screws (SMS) and each section is then snapped togther in place and anchored in the pool deck or ground.
Welded railing is extruded aluminum that does not come painted rather it is recieved in mill finish so that the precut sections can be welded making each section one solid piece.The sections are then sent out and painted or powder coated to the customers specifactions and installed in the pool deck or ground.
Is it better to have this installed in my grass or on the concrete pool deck?
Fences and railing can be installed in the pool deck or ground depending on the amount of room you have on the exsisting pool deck. Individual cities and state code mandate how much room there mustbe exsisting befor installation. Ground installation is also mandated by each city where and how the fence or rail can be installed. These questions of mandates of each city can be answered for the homeowner by our frendly office staff or by our field enginers.
What exactly is and "ELITE" roof?
Elite roof is really a brand name of a product that refers to insulated roof panels.
www.elitealuminum.com
Insulated panels or ( Elite roof) is an aluminum top sheet with a styrofoam center and a aluminum bottom sheet creating a aluminum styrofoam sandwhich that comes in various lenghts and thickness which is determined by a engineer before installation.
What makes a pool enclosure stronger?
Pool enclosures (exsisting) can be made stronger by updating certain aspects of engineering .First thing is to have a super gutter installed between your house and pool enclosure.This will add in your enclosure being pulled off your fascia from heavy winds do accure. Also if you have a tile roof the super gutter acts as a barrier from tiles slidding off your roof and going through sreens. Tie down cables should be replaced with K Braces which are braces that are installed in each load bearing cornor of your enclosure. Base plates should be securely anchored into position with the proper anchors. Most enclosures we encountered after hurricane wilma that failed in one way or another failed for a couple reasons. One was they did not have super gutters and the fascia that the enclosure was attached to was rotten causing bolts to pull out and finally the enclosure falling to the ground. Another was the support cables failed causing the enclosure to lean buckeling front wall columns and top beams. Last was the base anchors were deteriorated causing base plate uplift and wall failure.
What exactly is SR-7 Gutter?
SR-7 Gutter is a new state-of-the-art gutter system developed by SUPER GUTTER and SCREEN to meet the needs of the south Florida homeowners and commercial building owners. It is an alternative to conventional seamless or house gutter, developed specifically because of the damage caused by Hurricane Wilma. SR-7 stands for seamless replacement 7 inch gutter. This gutter system is .072 guage extrusion which makes it 3-4 times thicker and stronger than house gutter, and is not rolled off a machine at the jobsite. SR-7 is fabricated in specific lengths up to 40 feet similar to SUPER GUTTER and has a baked on powder coat finish. It is a similar shape to decorative house gutter, but is 7 inches wide for improved roof drainage. Most importantly, because of the strength and installation process, it is much more attractive on a home, and is designed like SUPER GUTTER to remain solid on a house during hurricane winds. It is bolted on with 3 inch bolts every 24 inches, and each bolt is caulked and sealed to prevent water penetration to the fascia like seamless gutter. On homes that have angled fascia, it is secured with a matching color angle bracket for strength and durability. The result is a permanent more attractive cleaner finish with no gaps for sunlight or water to penetrate. It is currently available in gloss white, cream and bronze. Basically, SR-7 is becoming known as "the gutter on steroids".
What are the advantages of SR-7?
The advantages are many:
- Durability. SR-7 is 500% stronger than house gutter. A ladder or falling tree branches will not severely dent it such as seamless gutter.
- Width. SR-7 is only offered 7 inches wide for a reason. To catch all of the water from the roof, and to channel a larger capacity for improved drainage. SR-7 is wider by design to reach out an additional inch from the home because of the larger tile overhang on so many new roofs. 6 inch seamless gutter often does not capture all of the rainwater because of the tiles.
- Improved strength with installation. As mentioned above, because of the stronger installation, SR-7 will not pull away from the house, bow, or sag like all seamless gutter does over time. This is because of the fasteners and supportive angle bracket which makes the attachment to the house much more rigid.
- Beauty. SR-7 is attached with the matching color angle bracket so there are no gaps at the fascia as seen with almost all seamless gutter installations between the gutter spikes.
What is the AAF?
The AAF is the Aluminum Association of Florida. It is the only governing body and professional association in Florida which creates the standards and guidelines for contractors to install aluminum products such as screened pool enclosures and SUPER GUTTERS on your home. It is important that your licensed contractor be a member of this association because those who are, have the most up to date knowledge regarding recent changes in the industry standards, especially over the last 18 months since Hurricane Wilma. These changes which have been updated are now adopted as the 2006 Florida Building Code or FBC.
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