Home Repair forum - Questions on seamless gutters

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Questions on seamless gutters

Wayne Whitney

2007-07-26, 1:25 pm

Hello,

I need to replace my gutters and am considering whether to use a
seamless gutter outfit that shapes aluminum roll stock on site. So a
couple questions:

I assume that where the gutter turns a shallow angle (e.g. 22.5
degrees for a bay), a seam would be required anyway. Or is there some
way to extrude the angle, too?

On a long straight run with downspouts at either end, the middle
should be high with slope down towards each downspout. Does this
require a seam in the middle, or is the extruded gutter flexible
enough to accomodate the change in slope without a seam?

Thanks,
Wayne

2007-07-26, 1:25 pm

I installed my own last year, had them dropped off on site. There are various
thickness available, availabliity may vary by area. The Home Depot 10' gutters
are .019" thick. The common seamless gutters are .025" and came in various
colors. The 'commercial' version is .032" thick and came only in white. I have
large trees that drop branches, so I went with the .032".

>I assume that where the gutter turns a shallow angle (e.g. 22.5
>degrees for a bay), a seam would be required anyway. Or is there some
>way to extrude the angle, too?

It needs a joint. There are two types. mitered and <mumble>. One type is the
standard, 6" long, pre-formed corners you can buy anywhere, the mitered joint
is a small strip that goes inside and your miter cut (plus the rivets or
screws) is the only thing showing. I only needed 90 degree corners.

>On a long straight run with downspouts at either end, the middle
>should be high with slope down towards each downspout. Does this
>require a seam in the middle, or is the extruded gutter flexible
>enough to accomodate the change in slope without a seam?

Hmm, dunno. My longest run was 36', and I designed it for one outlet which
works fine. They are pretty stiff when installed, they certainly wouldn't drop
at each end very much without a relief cut or a kink in the center, I would
think.

--
Dennis

Big_Jake

2007-07-27, 3:25 am

On Jul 26, 12:21 pm, Wayne Whitney <whit...@post.harvard.edu> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I need to replace my gutters and am considering whether to use a
> seamless gutter outfit that shapes aluminum roll stock on site. So a
> couple questions:
>
> I assume that where the gutter turns a shallow angle (e.g. 22.5
> degrees for a bay), a seam would be required anyway. Or is there some
> way to extrude the angle, too?
>
> On a long straight run with downspouts at either end, the middle
> should be high with slope down towards each downspout. Does this
> require a seam in the middle, or is the extruded gutter flexible
> enough to accomodate the change in slope without a seam?
>
> Thanks,
> Wayne

The change in slope is really quite minor. The seamless gutters are
plenty flexible to accommodate the change. I think, and someone
SHOULD correct me if I am wrong, but I think that a slop of around
1/2" per 10' is plenty for gutters.

JK

Bob

2007-07-30, 9:25 am

"Wayne Whitney" <whitney@post.harvard.edu> wrote in message
news:slrnfahm13.2r2.whitney@pizza.private...
> Hello,
>
> I need to replace my gutters and am considering whether to use a
> seamless gutter outfit that shapes aluminum roll stock on site.
> So a
> couple questions:
>
> I assume that where the gutter turns a shallow angle (e.g. 22.5
> degrees for a bay), a seam would be required anyway. Or is there
> some
> way to extrude the angle, too?
>
> On a long straight run with downspouts at either end, the middle
> should be high with slope down towards each downspout. Does this
> require a seam in the middle, or is the extruded gutter flexible
> enough to accomodate the change in slope without a seam?
>
> Thanks,
> Wayne

I'm not in the gutter business, so take this free advice for what it
cost you.
I had seamless gutters installed all around the house right after it
was built ten years ago. At every angle there had to be a seam.

As far as slope on a long run, I'm not sure that is really needed,
as long as there is no low spot. Any small amount of residual water
will soon dry after a rain.

One word of caution is that the gutter should be installed so there
is a slight air space behind it, between the fascia and the gutter.
This should be about half an inch.

The reason I mention this is that I had fascia board rotting in four
different areas around the house. I noticed that above each of
these rotted areas, the gutter was tight against the fascia and
where there was space, there was no rot.

In sighting down the gutter from one end, I noticed that the nails
(screws) were not driven in at right angles to the fascia. That is,
they were slanting upward which held the gutter against the board.
As a result, no air could get behind them to allow for drying.

I fixed this by bending the those nails upward to pull the bottom of
the gutter away from the house.

Hope this helps in some way.

Bob-tx

Wayne Whitney

2007-07-30, 1:25 pm

On 2007-07-30, Bob <bobwhite@suddenlink.net> wrote:

> One word of caution is that the gutter should be installed so there
> is a slight air space behind it, between the fascia and the gutter.
> This should be about half an inch.

Do you mean there should be a gap at the bottom of the gutter, while
the top is tight to the fascia?

Thanks, Wayne

Bob

2007-07-31, 3:25 am

"Wayne Whitney" <whitney@post.harvard.edu> wrote in message
news:slrnfas310.2op.whitney@pizza.private...
> On 2007-07-30, Bob <bobwhite@suddenlink.net> wrote:
>
>
> Do you mean there should be a gap at the bottom of the gutter,
> while
> the top is tight to the fascia?
>
> Thanks, Wayne
>
Yes. That allows for drying. At least that is the way I figured
it. At any rate, where the gutter was tight against the wood on the
bottom, is where it rotted.
Bob-tx

SteveB

2007-07-31, 5:25 pm

"Bob" <bobwhite@suddenlink.net> wrote

> Yes. That allows for drying. At least that is the way I figured it. At
> any rate, where the gutter was tight against the wood on the bottom, is
> where it rotted.
> Bob-tx

Mine created a long popsicle for most of the winter that kept the eave,
eventually rotting it. The gutter had been mounted in contact with the
eave. (fascia?)

Steve

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