COOS BAY, Ore., April 19, 2010 — There’s a reason that Oregon Garden Art’s rain chains don’t look like any others. It’s because Gail Elber didn’t know what a rain chain should look like.
“I’d seen a piece of regular hardware chain used as a rain chain, and I liked the idea of seeing the rain trickle down, instead of having a downspout,” said Elber. “But I thought it would look nicer to have a chain of woven links, like a chainmail necklace. I’d never seen the imported cup-type chains.”
So Elber wove herself a copper rain chain and hung it on the gutter of her patio, exposed to the elements of the Oregon coast. “In my backyard, the wind has pulled my broccoli up by the roots,” she said. “When I saw my chain moving just an inch or two in big storms, I thought that other people would be interested in a rain chain like this.”
When Elber started Oregon Garden Art to sell her woven chains on the Web, her first customers were architects. “With a lot of more formal or traditional house designs, my chains fit in better than the Asian-inspired chains, which look like little lotus blossoms or fishes,” Elber said. “Also, because we make them out of hardened copper wire, they’re pretty strong. They’ll probably outlast the gutter.”
Last year, Oregon Garden Art opened a workshop in Coos Bay to increase production capacity. “It’s a pretty low-tech operation,” Elber said. “It’s just people and wire.” The company now sells both copper chains and aluminum chains at http://www.oregongardenart.com.
Rain chains are an alternative to downspouts. Just as a downspout does, they hang from a hole in the gutter, and the rain trickles down them to a splash block, drain system, or rain barrel. Unlike downspouts, rain chains look pretty, and they also won’t clog with leaves.
A rain chain should extend from the gutter to within a few inches of the ground or rain barrel. Oregon Garden Art sells copper chains up to ten feet long, which fits most one-story homes. If a longer chain is necessary, as for a second-story deck, Oregon Garden Art recommends its aluminum chains, which are lighter.
A single rain chain can accent the view from inside the house. “If you have a downspout that’s visible from your kitchen or bedroom window, that’s a great place for a rain chain,” said Elber. “Or if your patio is a comfortable place to sit on rainy days, hang a rain chain there.”
Alternatively, if your house is made of natural materials such as logs, stone, or stucco, you might want to outfit it entirely in rain chains. “On a rustic-looking house, a painted downspout from the hardware store isn’t going to look right,” said Elber. “A rain chain will look more appropriate.”
Editors: For more information or a high-resolution photo, contact Gail Elber, , (541) 808-1773.
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