gutter questions

[sonett43]

I have a lot of gutters on my house, many are pretty high up, 30 feet, that my wife doesn't like me climbing up to clean them out. They are all connected to a pit underground.

last fall, I did the cleanout with a leaf blower and long extension of PVC piping, which worked pretty well for the big leaves that come down in the fall.

I have installed the downspout wire strainers as seen here, http://www.guttersupply.com/p-screens-strainers.gstml but the problem is, now that we are in spring, these strainers fill up with small debris and the gutters back-up. Now, I have this awful smelling standing water, and the cleanout is making me nuts.

my opinion of most of the leaf protection systems is that they all are (1) expensive and (2) don't do a great job, so you still need to remove them to clean out the gutters once or twice a year, so why bother.

anyone have a good solution?

Lewis

 

[raccoon]

EIther way you'd have to go up.
Maybe call up a company that does that for a living?
The wife wont worry and you'll have your gutters are nice and clean!

 

[Vernmotor]

this is the kind I have..they also have screen in them..I have had what you got ..they **** !!

http://www.guttersupply.com/p-gutter-leaf-guards-leaf-out.gstml

 

[ket-tek]

I've been looking at the Rainhandlers, the company has been helpful when I called I just haven't made up my mind yet..

I really like the idea, because now I've got some of the same problems you do plus I haven't dug in french drains or done anykind of gutter gaurds yet.

If these things work as advertised then it would solve lots of issues. No down spouts to mow around, no need to dig ditches for french drain pipes, no climbing a ladder to clean them out, no plants growing out of them. And they are fairly cheap at $4/ft with needed mounting hardware included.

I think I may do the rear of the house soon to see how they work before pulling the trigger on the whole house.

http://www.rainhandler.com/shop/index.php

 

[sonett43]

ket-tek, we are all waiting to hear how these work for you.

 

[kbs2244]

What is your roof pitch?
If it is the typical 4/12 just walk around the edge of the roof with your electric leaf blower.
I have a 2 story colonial with an attached garage.
I have some good sized oak and hickory trees that like to drop stuff at some times of the year.
I can do the front by myself and drop the extension cord down to the wife to plug into the back bath for the back side.
I am done in less than a half hour.

 

[structures282]

I've been looking at the Rainhandlers, the company has been helpful when I called I just haven't made up my mind yet..

I really like the idea, because now I've got some of the same problems you do plus I haven't dug in french drains or done anykind of gutter gaurds yet.

If these things work as advertised then it would solve lots of issues. No down spouts to mow around, no need to dig ditches for french drain pipes, no climbing a ladder to clean them out, no plants growing out of them. And they are fairly cheap at $4/ft with needed mounting hardware included.

I think I may do the rear of the house soon to see how they work before pulling the trigger on the whole house.

I have not personally tried these, but I was told by a friend at work that he didn't have any luck with them. The deal is they may work as advertised in a heavy rain but for most rain conditions it just moves the "trench" out further from the house. But I would like to know if you have better luck. Maybe the designs have improved over the years.

 

[FunfDreisig]

Here's hint...

There are scores of "gutter fixing" products on the market. If any of them actually worked significantly better, the other products would simply disappear.

FWIW I installed large commercial grade gutters to collect water for our household use into the 10,000 gal tank behind our cabin. I'm installing the same gutters for rain water harvesting into the 2 - 10,000 gal tanks behind the 3 bay garage I'm building. The cabin is surrounded by live oaks on three sides. The trees are taller than the cabin with canopies that come very close to over hanging the roof. The gutters stay clean all by themselves. I just clean the filter basket at the tank once a month when i change out the filters on the rain water system.

Funf Dreisg

 

[JB740i]

Here's hint...

There are scores of "gutter fixing" products on the market. If any of them actually worked significantly better, the other products would simply disappear.

FWIW I installed large commercial grade gutters to collect water for our household use into the 10,000 gal tank behind our cabin. I'm installing the same gutters for rain water harvesting into the 2 - 10,000 gal tanks behind the 3 bay garage I'm building. The cabin is surrounded by live oaks on three sides. The trees are taller than the cabin with canopies that come very close to over hanging the roof. The gutters stay clean all by themselves. I just clean the filter basket at the tank once a month when i change out the filters on the rain water system.

Funf Dreisg

Got pics of the rain water setup?

What identifies commercial grade gutters? Dimensions or gauge of metal?

 

[ddawg16]

I've done a lot of research on the subject myself.....Most of my neighbors have tired one or more of the products.....Like Structurs said.....if one of them was really worth it...the others would go bye bye....

One piece of advice.....don't go with the DIY gutters that come in 10' sections......I think seamless is the only way to go....

It only takes a walk around the block looking at the houses with the gutters that come in 10' sections.....same story...looks like **** and almost all of them look like they are falling apart. It cost us $800 about 4 years ago to have seamless installed on our house. The guys show up with a panel truck and the machine in the back....he measures and then rolls out the sections right on the spot....all done in 2 hours. Enjoyed writing that $800 check.

 

[ket-tek]

I have not personally tried these, but I was told by a friend at work that he didn't have any luck with them. The deal is they may work as advertised in a heavy rain but for most rain conditions it just moves the "trench" out further from the house. But I would like to know if you have better luck. Maybe the designs have improved over the years.

Thanks for the input, I hope some other members have gutter ideas, or any input on these Rainhandlers.

I've been a little skeptical and that's why I have yet to try them.. I just have no interest in getting up on the 8/12 pitch 30+ft high roof. And would love to find a good/better gutter solution.

 

[walrus]

I've been looking at the Rainhandlers, the company has been helpful when I called I just haven't made up my mind yet..

I really like the idea, because now I've got some of the same problems you do plus I haven't dug in french drains or done anykind of gutter gaurds yet.

If these things work as advertised then it would solve lots of issues. No down spouts to mow around, no need to dig ditches for french drain pipes, no climbing a ladder to clean them out, no plants growing out of them. And they are fairly cheap at $4/ft with needed mounting hardware included.

I think I may do the rear of the house soon to see how they work before pulling the trigger on the whole house.

http://www.rainhandler.com/shop/index.php

My dad tried them on part of his house, they ****, don't waste your money

 

[FunfDreisig]

Got pics of the rain water setup?

What identifies commercial grade gutters? Dimensions or gauge of metal?

Both. The commercial grade metal roof and gutters I use are from MBCI ( www.mbcionline.com ). I used the 26 gauge screw down R panel roofing and 6in deep 26 gauge gutters. Here in Central Texas most commercial metal building (e.g. storage facilities, etc.) use the R Panels for for the roof (and the wall siding applied vertically) and the 6 in deep gutters.

FWIW Commercial grade gutters are not for every one because they don't always blend in with the house design. But our cabin, and the 3 bay garage are a variant of "mid-century-modern" with metal roofs.

I'll be installing the roof on the 3 bay all day today and tomorrow but I'll try to get a GS model posted in a few days.

Funf Dreisig

 

[67pete300]

We got new gutters last fall. We went with gutterstuff http://www.thegutterstuff.com/products/ to keep the leaves out. Seems to be working well so far.

 

[walrus]

What if you got some 3/4 aluminum conduit, 3 sticks would give you 30 feet. Screw them together, screw 2- 90 bends on one end so you have a shepheards crook, hook garden hose to other end. hold over gutters and spray them out.
Might get wet but it might work, 3/4 aluminum is light yet stiff enough to do that. Might want a ball valve at the hose end and maybe a nozzle of some sort on the gutter end?

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have Leafguard gutters on my house. http://www.leafguard.com/ They've been in place for four or five years now and have been working great. I periodically get on a ladder and peek inside them, and there's zero debris. They collect all the water, too, even in huge downpours. I have a couple large elm trees, along with some ash and hackberry, so I know they work well with those kinds of leaves as well as the elm seeds. I don't know how well they'll work for pine needles or other kinds of trees.

My next door neighbor installed some of that foam Gutterstuff 67pete300 mentioned a year or so ago, and as far as I know it's working out well for them.

 

[JohnK007]

Never seen the Gutter Stuff before. Looks interesting. At a little over $14 per 4' section it can run up to some serious jing. Still, if it works it might be worth looking into. It certainly looks easy enough to install.

 

[Torque1st]

That gutterstuff looks interesting but at around $4 per foot it is very expensive. That is some serious markup for foam.

 

[FunfDreisig]

What if you got some 3/4 aluminum conduit, 3 sticks would give you 30 feet. Screw them together, screw 2- 90 bends on one end so you have a shepheards crook, hook garden hose to other end. hold over gutters and spray them out.
Might get wet but it might work, 3/4 aluminum is light yet stiff enough to do that. Might want a ball valve at the hose end and maybe a nozzle of some sort on the gutter end?

That sounds like a great idea. And when you are through hosing out the gutters... just unscrew a few joints ( of conduit ) and you have your own outdoor shower

Funf Dreisig

 

[tdkkart]

I'm using Elko Guttagard:
http://www.elkoproducts.com/

Seems to work very well, installed last fall, gutters are clean so far.

Another advantage I've found is that it does a very good job of preventing ice damming.
I have green shingles and green gutters so I installed black guttagard. Shortly after every snow I had no snow on top of the gutters, and stretching as much as a foot up the roof.

 

[Torque1st]

What if you got some 3/4 aluminum conduit, 3 sticks would give you 30 feet. Screw them together, screw 2- 90 bends on one end so you have a shepheards crook, hook garden hose to other end. hold over gutters and spray them out.
Might get wet but it might work, 3/4 aluminum is light yet stiff enough to do that. Might want a ball valve at the hose end and maybe a nozzle of some sort on the gutter end?

Maybe a 90° and a 45° bend would keep a person slightly drier.