[cath]

I'm going to be doing some simple home repair over the next couple of months, and one thing that needs attention is my pathetic gutters. I've seen a couple of different kinds of gutters boasting to be "the best".

See http://www.rainhandler.com/ which seems to be modestly priced.

and of course the pricey http://www.permaflow.co.uk/homepage.htm

who knows anything about these gutters? Orrrrr should I just replace with standard gutters and deal with the mess each season that the oak leaves and springtime catkins make?

 

[Guest]

yes there a pain to put up

 

[Geoff]

sorry, Cath. all i know is do not fall off when cleaning them.

G~

 

[Junkzoo]

Cath, dunno what kind of gunk/debris you get in your gutters,,,,if your are thinking of those "gutter helmets",leaf keeper outers type of gutter systems,,i'm not a fan of them,,,,if you get lil seeds ,
tree "garbage",,anything smaller than a good ol fashioned leaf,,,you will still get stuff in the shielded type gutters. and it WILL be a pain to clean the lil gunk out of em....
i heard a good deal of not to happy customers that have them,,,
i'm still a user of the regular type gutters , and clean mine at least twice or more season.
plus a good downpour will shoot rain water over and past the gutters IMO,,,so what's the use of the new fandangled gutters?

 

[Rick O]

My gutters are original. Back in the 70's water used to flow up hill. That's why some of my downspouts are on the high end. I gotta do something too. All my seams are leaking.

The rain handler seems like a good idea but I haven't talked to anyone that has them. I wonder if you could lean a ladder against them to get on the roof.

 

[cath]

Thanks for all your input there, guys. That's a huge help.

 

[Junkzoo]

Rick, the few people i've talked to that had the rain handlers,,,had to rip them off, cuz they could not clean the lil junk in the gutters collected in them ,clogging up same,,,,,
IMO , they work in theory, not a cure all, still a maintain problem.
on the up hill rain, pick up the house on the low side,,,add a lil bit of styro sheet to shim! LOL:funny:

 

[Alice]

Cath,

Were you looking to hang the gutters yourself and save some $ or were you going to have someone install them? If you're going to that extra expense look at continious run gutters, still the best system IMO. The contractor will come out with his machine and extract the gutters to fit right on the spot and then hang them up. No seams to worry about leaking, and the new ones are pretty tough which is good because as Jeff said, even with the "gutter guards" there's no getting away from cleaning them-you just have to take the guards off to do it

Let your fingers do the walking though-I've gotten bids on the same house that ranged from a high of $2100 to a low of $600! If you get a super low bid, check out their business and contractors license-call the respective agencies to check for complaints- before you decide, but some guys who bid low really just need the work and are hoping to use you as a testimonial for future work references.

Good luck!

Alice

 

[Junkzoo]

Yup Cath, like Alice said,,,check into the ol standard no seam gutters,,they got a machine , and a roll of gutter material, spits out the length you need , no seams,,,unless you are like a old neightbor of mine,,,,they ran out of one roll, had to start a new roll of material,,,quess where the seam was? exactly over the doorway! quess where it leaked? she was a lil old type lady,,never noticed/said anything,,i saw that , and i told her that was WRONG,,,and called them up, and said i was the grandson ,and called them on it,,they came and replaced the whole piece,,,with one single run. like it should have been,,,
just a lil story to relate
Cath, call around, the ones that want the work will give you the best prices,,also ask them for address/numbers of prior customers,,,tell em you want to call them to see if they are pleased with their work,,,the good honest places will have no problem doing that,,in fact they will want to do it ,,,

 

[cath]

Great advice, Alice and Jeff. Thanks for everyone's input on this.

 

[Doug1]

EXTRUDED one piece

 

[cath]

Now he has a cane too ....as if he wasn't already enough of a character

 

[thefatman]

sorry, i spend most of my time with my mind in the gutter, but dont know much about cleaning or fixing them

 

[cath]

heheheh Ummm nooo...that does not qualify you, Jay.