Jargon Explained for Aluminium Guttering

Aluminium

Aluminium (or aluminum) is a chemical element with the symbol Al. Aluminium is plentiful in the earth’s crust (making up about 8% by weight of the Earth's solid surface!), but is only found in combination with other minerals.

Aluminium is the most widely used non-ferrous metal – non-ferrous metals do not contain iron in noticeable amounts making them lightweight. Other non-ferrous metals include copper and lead.

Aside from being the choice material for high quality gutters, aluminium is also used in the manufacture of Coke cans, foil, cooking utensils, cladding, sailing boat masts… the list goes on.

Bitumen

Bitumen (also known as Asphalt) is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid. Aside from use in road building, where it is used to form asphalt concrete (the surface we commonly refer to as tarmac), bitumen is used in the production of roofing felt.

Coil

We purchase our aluminium in a coil form. Generally each coil weighs between 125 and 150 kilograms and provides around 600 foot of aluminium. This coil is loaded onto our Knudson Seamless Gutter machine (that lives inside our vehicle). On site, we feed the coil through the machine, extruding the aluminium at precise lengths.

The longest length of gutter we have extruded in one go, was on the entrance to York Railway Station – measuring over 45 meters! A plastic gutter measuring the same length would need to be constructed in twelve sections.

Commercial

Commercial essentially refers to all installations that aren’t of a domestic (private house) nature. For example, that means we provide commercial guttering services to shops, pubs, schools, hospitals, leisure centres, supermarkets, garages, hotels… the list is endless!

Domestic

Domestic refers to installations on private homes – generally instructed by homeowners themselves. We have been providing domestic guttering services throughout our 50 year history, keeping homes throughout the North of England clean and dry!

Fall Pipes

A fall pipe is very simply, the vertical pipe for funnelling rainwater down from the gutter. We provide fall pipes in two materials – high grade plastic and cast aluminium.

Fascia Board

Derived from Latin "fascia" meaning "ribbon”, the fascia board is the piece of material (usually treated timber) that sits either just below the roofline or along the lowest point. In most cases, the gutter is attached directly to a fascia.

Finlock Gutters

Finlock Gutters are concrete gutters which were installed on new homes built after the Second World War – around the late 1940’s. The properties of concrete mean that Finlock Gutters absorb the water they carry, resulting in damp walls both inside and out. Fortunately our Finlock Gutter Lining Service means you can harness the benefits of seamless aluminium gutters avoiding the costly process of removing the original concrete.

Ridge Tiles

Ridge tiles refer to roof tiles, semi-circular in shape, that are used to cover the ridge (often the highest point) of a roof.

Sealant

A sealant is a thick substance used to “seal” the joints of a given material, making it air- or in this case, water-tight. Not to be confused with an adhesive, which is used to “glue” two surfaces together – not always with the intention of creating a watertight joint.

We use a high performance silicone sealant, ensuring a seal that will last for a minimum of 15 years.

Seamless

Our Aluminium Gutters are “extruded” on site – this means a continuous length of gutter can be created until we say stop! Because there is no physical limit to how long a single piece of gutter can be (aluminium coils are 600ft long but you would need a big building and a lot of people to hold a 180m piece of gutter!) we refer to aluminium gutters as being seamless i.e. without joints. By contrast, timber gutters are only available up to 6m lengths and plastic even less at 4m.

If there are any aspects of our services whatsoever that you don't understand, please don't hesitate to give us a call - we'll be happy to explain.

Jargon Explained for Aluminium Guttering

Purdy's Aluminium Guttering Leeds - Seamless Aluminium Gutters