Crowning Jewels

Adorning your roof and gutters with a host of accessories can prove aesthetically pleasing as well as practical.

By Nancy E. Berry

All a house needs is a good hat and a good pair of shoes.Ó Old-house restorers might include roofing accessories in this adage. For centuries, metal gutter and roofing devices have added architectural character to a house while they protected the building envelope. Today there are more historically appropriate products available than ever before. Often simply looking like decorative additions, these parts have specific functions. They carry moisture away from walls, prevent mold from growing on shingles, and stop leaves and other debris from blocking downspouts.

Available either prefabricated or custom made, these accessories are typically copper, aluminum, galvanized steel, or bronze. When deciding what's right for your old house, remember that to avoid galvanic corrosion anything you add to your gutter system should be the same or similar metal to what's there. Here's a look at just a few of these roofing lifesavers.

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