Folk often use the term eavestrough in Canada and northern United States, but gutter further south to mean the same thing. It’s a matter of culture really. People in Britain drive motorcars while their American cousins have automobiles. To avoid confusion it helps to know what they mean.

What Exactly Does An Eavestrough Mean?

An eave is the part of a roof that extends beyond a wall, to keep falling water away from the foundations. An eavestrough is a channel – well trough if you like – that catches the water from the eave and carries it away to a collection point.

That’s Logical – What Is a Gutter Then?

This is where it can get confusing. Gutter is the alternative word for an eavestrough, although a gutter may do its work elsewhere, for example along a curb at the edge of a street. Does that mean an eavestrough is a gutter along the edge of a roof then?

Perhaps We Should Rather Look At Intentions

An eavestrough – roof gutter if you prefer – is built with a specific purpose in mind. It is slim line, lightweight and attractive, and it does a great job if an expert installs it. However, it’s unlikely to last long if you were to embed it across the entrance to your garage.

That’s because a gutter leading water away across the ground has to be a solid object, well able to withstand heavy traffic. And capable of coming up smiling, provided you don’t try to suspend it from the eaves to catch rainwater up there.

How To Order an Eavestrough or a Gutter

The main reason for the confusion is salespeople generally don’t understand the difference, because they only use one of those terms. So it might be wiser to say, I need new eavestroughs for my roof or a length of gutter to lay in my garden.

The original caption for our image (translated) reads, “Doshchova trough in a private booth SMT Vilshani Kharkiv region, Ukraine. The rinva is embellished with a figurine of a chapli with a toad”. We’re none the wiser whether this is a gutter or an eavestrough. Somewhere in between do you think?

Whatever the case you’ll have no problem with Valiant Exteriors understanding what you need. That’s because we always go on site to confirm the exact requirements for each client.

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Rain Gutter in Vilshany, Kharkiv Oblast Region of Ukraine (Nadiya Li BY CC 4.0)