I hate gutters

[Timber]

Got leaky gutters? I do.... Not sure if the water running off the roof is just missing, but it seems a lot of leaking for it to be a seam leaking.

My 1st recommendation without seeing your home and problem would be to add or replace the drip edge. Now do this in the sun on a warm day when you can lift the tabs (Gently) so not to crack them. There is a special flat bar you can buy anywhere to sneak the roofing nails out. You may or may not have to release the gutter hangers to let the drip edge slip over the gutter edge. It depends on how high on the fascia board you set the gutter. Also be sure your pitch is correct so the water flows quick enough that it doesn't bag the gutter out with the wt. of the water. When you go to nail in the new drip edge because you sneaking under your roof tabs, predrill the nail holes in the aluminum so you have less swings with a hammer and less chance to hit the tab

 

[Bo McCarty]

As always lots of great information. I hope to have this darn thing fixed this weekend, or by next weeks rain (we're clear for a few days).

Oh, the gutters only leak when it's raining! ha.

 

[MossRoad]

In New England most houses have wooden gutters; the real good ones are copper lined. My 2nd business I started was in historic building restoration. I specialized in 17 & 18 century. I did this for 10 before I sold the company. All homes of this period have wooden gutters and copper downspouts. Many of the down spouts were replaced with galvanize over time. The use of a wooden gutter is to make the gutter invisible and make it part of the trimming of the home. As a rule from top to bottom it goes like this Gutter, molding, soffett, fascia, crown molding, dental molding or rope molding or both. Then your Queen Ann Victorian homes have even more and the ginger bread can consist of all kinds of moldings and coins. A lot of times the copper downspouts are hidden behind the coins. I am sure this means very little to you since you didn't know what a wooden gutter was. This type of construction is always found in your Victorian and Federal style homes as well as all your churches. It is still used today on any home that has a sculpted trim and multiple color schemes because wood is still the greatest material to build style into a home.

I was watching some This Old House shows a few years ago and that was the first I had seem wood gutters. I thought it was nuts until I saw them line them with the copper and all the associated trim work. Man, that was a work of art. Very nice and it will last another hundred years. Good stuff.

 

[DieselPower]

I had some gutter leak problems last year and I tried a 2 part epoxy that can be applied under water. It's called Mr. Sticky's. My gutters are now leak free. Great stuff that I have found other uses for. www.mrstickys.com

 

[Timber]

I was watching some This Old House shows a few years ago and that was the first I had seem wood gutters. I thought it was nuts until I saw them line them with the copper and all the associated trim work. Man, that was a work of art. Very nice and it will last another hundred years. Good stuff.

Wooden gutters are the best, They outlive almost any other material as long as the are taken care of. The need to be oiled every fall or every other. There are some new composite materials out there but they break down in the UV and they never hold paint very well. Most Victorians an in 7 to 9 colors Homes out of the early 1800 are usually in Tory colors. That is all white,or Yellow body white trim. Most have white chimneys with black caps. and all shutters are green. There are a lot of homes that are in the historic districts that have to be done in these colors or you are fined by the town. The same rule applies to Xmas lighting. A lot of towns are white lights only or the town will fine you. My company was a Paint removal operation for the most part but that is just part of what I did. Lead poison is the hazard with that trade

 

[ericbx1500]

Bo McCarty, the most common problem with gutters leaking after replacement is the drip edge. When you have new gutters installed on your home the old ones are torn down and the new ones are hung up. This is where the drip edge comes in play. When the new gutters are installed the high end (furthest from the down spout) is placed over the drip edge not under it like it should be and fastened to the fascia. The rainwater now drips behind the gutter instead of in it. To fix this I purchase some jumbo drip edge (hangs down further) not standard and slip it under the first shingle. Now the drip edge is inside my gutters. I only do this in areas where my gutters are installed over the existing drip edge. I don’t even need to nail it or caulk it to stay in place.

 

[flusher]

Hi Bo. Perhaps you have a problem of your roofing not being sealed to the flashing of the gutter. I have that problem with some of the gutters on our metal roofing. The runoff comes down the metal roof, sort of doubles back a little and runs underneath the gutter flashing, wetting the bottom side.

Mike

I have the inexpensive vinyl guttering from Home Depot on my place.
I had to use the plastic drip edging since the shingle overhang is too short.
Without the edging water would get between the rear of the gutter and the fascia board.
Had a few days of rain this week. No leaks between the vinyl sections (yet).
I guess I had better start looking for some good gutter adhesive just in case.

 

[Bo McCarty]

I think I have found the problems. I started fixing the problems Saturday and should have it taken care of this evening.

Problem 1. My chalk line must have had a wiggle. The gutter was on the line, but after eyeballing, then sticking a level on the gutter, well, lets just say water won't flow uphill. Just happens that's where a joint was doing a drip drip drip.

Problem 2. Some of the water was running behind the gutter on one section (yep, the leaky one).

Thanks for all the help.

 

[RalphVa]

We replaced some gutters high up (3 stories) on the house plus a short run right in front that kept plugging some with leaves. Replaced with a seamless guttering with a top on it that is guaranteed for life not to plug up. It was impossible for us to service those gutters and very difficult to find anyone to do it.

In Baton Rouge, most houses do not have gutters. Found out why when we converted a porch to a breakfast room and felt we needed a gutter on its back wall to keep rain from spattering off the deck onto the outside wall. That one downspout kept plugging up with stuff growing up it about every 3-6 months.

Ralph

 

[catsco]

Here in Douglas County (Colorado) we are bulding a new house.

The local codes requires that ALL buildings have gutters.

Our house under construction doesn't have them yet, and in the two years I've been working on it, we've had record setting downpours and snow.

Surrounding houses lose their gutters every 2-3 years when there is 4-5 feet or more of snow in a day by the weight tearing them off if melting is fast enough to release all the snow at once.

Might be a good place to start a gutter installation business! :->

Mark H.