So, I go to clean out my rain gutters and...

[david914]

Can hardly get my hands, much less the gutter scooper that I just bought in there to clean them out because the roofers that re-shingled the house right before we bought it started the first course halfway over the rain gutters? WTF? I've never seen it done this way. Is there any reason why someone would leave this much overhang?

[Heel n Toe]

We just had our roof redone... seems like the guy told me an inch and a quarter or an inch and a half is the industry standard. Looks like you might've gotten two inches or so. Probably not a problem, except for cleaning.

Try shooting them out of there with your hose nozzle set at the smallest aperture.

Was your roofer one of those GAF-certified installers using six nails per shingle for the 110 MPH wind guarantee?

[stomachmonkey]

Climb down.

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and get these.

Amerimax Home Products Brown Vinyl Snap In Gutter Guard - 85279 at The Home Depot

They slide under the shingle and snap onto the gutter.

Takes 10 seconds to install one.

[peppy]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Climb down.

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and get these.

Amerimax Home Products Brown Vinyl Snap In Gutter Guard - 85279 at The Home Depot

They slide under the shingle and snap onto the gutter.

Takes 10 seconds to install one.

But they will not clean the leaves out of the gutter.

I took the gutters off my house so I don't have to do this.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by peppy

But they will not clean the leaves out of the gutter.

I took the gutters off my house so I don't have to do this.

That was my solution as well.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by peppy

But they will not clean the leaves out of the gutter.

I took the gutters off my house so I don't have to do this.

They will keep the leaves from getting into the gutters.

And removing gutters from a house is not necc a good idea.

May work for you but they are there for a reason.

[david914]

Yeah, it's at least a couple of inches overhang. I'd trim them back if I thought I could do it evenly. Of course, it's cold outside and not a good time to try and do that unless I make some sort of jig to hold a circular saw.

Don't know about the roofer. I'll have to check the receipt that the previous owners left and see.

Don't want to remove them as we have a fair amount of moisture under the house already and I really need to keep as much rain diverted away as I can.

Ugh. Whatta pain. Gutter guards are looking like a good idea at this point (after I get them cleaned out).

[bornrich]

Yea the gutters and downspouts are there to direct water away from your foundation and\or basement.

[legion]

I use a leaf blower to clean my gutters. It take me about five minutes to do the whole house.

It used to take my about 5 hours by hand...

[Soterik]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Climb down.

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and get these.

Amerimax Home Products Brown Vinyl Snap In Gutter Guard - 85279 at The Home Depot

They slide under the shingle and snap onto the gutter.

Takes 10 seconds to install one.

Need to look at the design of the lip on your gutter though, these won't fit all gutters, I tried....., buy just one first to see if it fits. Also if the nail that is use to attach the gutter to the roof has been pounded "in" a little and narrowed the gutter, you will have to pry it back out to make the width of the gutter the same, or you'll have a very difficult time to fit that particular piece.

e

[equality72521]

Originally Posted by legion

I use a leaf blower to clean my gutters. It take me about five minutes to do the whole house.

It used to take my about 5 hours by hand...

You beat me to it. Works like a charm.

[david914]

Originally Posted by legion

I use a leaf blower to clean my gutters. It take me about five minutes to do the whole house.

It used to take my about 5 hours by hand...

Hmmm... Now there's a good idea. Might be a little awkward with the style leaf blower I have (attachment to a weedeater), but definitely do-able. There's a fair amount of dirt in the gutters, but that can be rinsed down with a hose.

[island911]

amazon.com/Shop-Vac-Gutter-Cleaning-Kit

[gr8fl4porsche]

Tell your wife to clean out the gutters (small hands).

Problem solved.

[pwd72s]

How high are your gutters? I'm getting old & shakey, so I clean them while on the ground. How? A gutter cleaning kit that I attach to my Sears shop Vac...messy to clean the vac afterwards, but beats hell out of falling off a roof...

It's really just more hard extensions, a U shaped piece, and a crevice tool. It helps to have a helper/tender to manage the Vac and the cord as I go along the gutters.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by legion

I use a leaf blower to clean my gutters. It take me about five minutes to do the whole house.

It used to take my about 5 hours by hand...

Bingo. Just got done doing this last week on the place where I'm living now. The only thing I'd say is you need to be VERY careful to not let the high-velocity air get under a shingle - it wouldn't take much to tear one (or more) off, particularly if there was a lot of overhang as seems to be the case above. Use the full-power setting sparingly (if at all) and always direct the flow of air downward or across the shingles/gutters at a slight downward angle.

Too much overhang on an asphalt shingle can't be a good thing. Over time, they're just going to droop, curl and in time, crack along that stress/bend. I'd say an inch of edge overlap is more than enough.

There's also an attachment that Sears/Craftsman makes for a standard shop vac that you can use to blow them out - I have that too, but found standing on the roof with the leaf blower to make much easier/shorter work of it, plus I could see into the gutter to see what I was doing and make sure they were completely clear - with the shop vac attachment you're standing on the ground so (1) you can't see in and (2) all the leaves and crap that come out shower down on you. Good choice for occasional clean leaf removal duty. Not a good choice for months/years of decomposing crud and glop and wet muck though. The leaf blower is far better for that.

[david914]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

How high are your gutters? I'm getting old & shakey, so I clean them while on the ground. How? A gutter cleaning kit that I attach to my Sears shop Vac...messy to clean the vac afterwards, but beats hell out of falling off a roof...

It's really just more hard extensions, a U shaped piece, and a crevice tool. It helps to have a helper/tender to manage the Vac and the cord as I go along the gutters.

Gutters are about 10-12 feet above ground. Good ideas on the Shop Vac attachments.

[pwd72s]

Jeff, maybe this varies with the shop vac? My 6.25 hp sears vac has no problem sucking up the glop & krud. Nearly impossible to do the job with the gutters perfectly dry here, so the blower trick would send krap everywhere...slimy wet pine needles, gutter algea, Slimy black KRUD...

[david914]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Too much overhang on an asphalt shingle can't be a good thing. Over time, they're just going to droop, curl and in time, crack along that stress/bend. I'd say an inch of edge overlap is more than enough.

If you look at the pics, they're already drooping and the roof is only a year and a half old. Any good ideas on possibly trimming them back? Maybe some sort of jig to hold a circular saw, jig saw, Sawzall, etc.? Obviously, the trick will be keeping the cut straight so it doesn't look bad.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by david914

If you look at the pics, they're already drooping and the roof is only a year and a half old. Any good ideas on possibly trimming them back? Maybe some sort of jig to hold a circular saw, jig saw, Sawzall, etc.? Obviously, the trick will be keeping the cut straight so it doesn't look bad.

On a warmer day snap a straight line with a chalk line and use a pair of roofer snips to trim them. They look like big tin snips but are designed to trim shingles. A pair of big tin snips will work too. If you're careful you can get nice straight cuts. Those hang over entirely too much, and will crack and break in the near future if you don't trim them.