Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jan 29, 2000 06:49pm | #1

   *
   For starters, search the Breaktime Archives using the "Search" function. Several types were discussed, but I believe that pine needles remained an issue.

1. 
   Guest_ | Feb 02, 2000 12:10pm | #2

   *Yep, RTFA. A friend sells "Gutter Topper," one of the pricey solutions that comes with a guarantee. At $8-12 a foot, it had better.

1. 
   Guest_ | Feb 03, 2000 10:25am | #3

   *Have seen a lot of products promise a lot. Have seen several products used. Never have seen anything that worked very well in evergreen country. If it kept the needles out it also kept out the heavier water flows.Did see something on TV once about a hose on a long stick to make it easier to flush the gutters. Saw a similiar piece on using a shopvac. Have tried neither.If you find anything that works I'd like to know about it too.

1. 
   Guest_ | Feb 03, 2000 08:00pm | #4

   *I read a thing in "Tips+Techniques" by Charles Miller about a PVC (I think) extension for a garden hose with a couple 90s at the top for flushing gutters from the ground. It was within the past month I saw it, but I'm not sure what issue it was in. You might e-mail him. It looked workable.

1. 
   Guest_ | Feb 03, 2000 11:45pm | #5

   *A neighbor used a shop-vac with a looong homemade wand -- worked fine. Don't think it would suck up the mulch we get in ours, though.Can anyone show me a nice eavestrough detail? I've never even seen one.

2. 
   Guest_ | Feb 04, 2000 01:27am | #6

   *Now that you say that, I think Charles' extension might have been for a shop-vac too. Don't really remember. I've never seen a detail for that I liked since they stopped using wood gutters - but of course, they caused more problems than they solved.

3. 
   Guest_ | Feb 04, 2000 06:50am | #7

   *Well, it finally came to me why "K"-type gutters have the ogee -- they're supposed to look like eave trim, ha-ha. Of course, they always look like gutters, that is, glued-on sh*t. I was thinking of placing anti-leaf-guarded copper half round inside a pretende eavestrough built from pt and/or fiber-cement trim board. Or ANYTHING different from the neighborhood full of white K-gutters I live in. Suggestions? Eliminating the gutters is not an option, unfortunately.In Sonoma CA, i noticed a lot of ranch-style homes have a flat-sided gutter, kind of like J-channel and fitting in with the eave much better -- you might even casually confuse them with flat trim. I thought it was quite nice-looking and inobtrusive, especially in brown. Haven't seen those anywhere in the east, though I'd buy them in a second.Hey, anyone interested in Gutter Topper? (Sounds like Hamburger Helper® to me.) I can get $100 for each referral .. I know salesman with them. Geez, people will buy anything if sold on it right. One client of mine was quoted $700 to -clean- his gutters. yes, clean not replace. after that, i look like an angel.

4. 
   Guest_ | Feb 05, 2000 03:51am | #8

   *Last year there was a study going to be done by "B4UBuild" (www.b4ubuild.com, "Special features & articles") that would try and use each of the different types of gutter guards and report back their results after some seasons have passed. I checked with them late this fall and heard no new news.I am very interested in their findings (I mean, after all, if someone who is maybe impartial would do this for us we can all benefit from them, right?).But, alas, they have not followed up on their promise yet with any results.By the way, who is "B4UBUILD" anyway? the web site looked kinda proffesional like they were a magazine or something but never heard of them before...In the mean time, I get lots of exercise with the ladders and scooping muck (3 or 4 times each year).

5. 
   Guest_ | Feb 06, 2000 02:54am | #9

   *.......well, as most of you know...I'm a firm believer in NO gutters,they don't clog up at all....but if No Gutters is NOT an option and you don't like aluminum...what's wrong with standard fir gutters...we install them all the time....you need some old details for longevity...a couple soaking coats of linseed oil on the interior,, back prime everything else, leaded joints....plugged and returned ends, and your leaders can be copper, galvanized, square or round or fluted....You can also use copper gutters, they give a building a lot of class.....figure $10 to $13 a foot, installed..As far as leaf guards go, "Gutter Helmet " looks promising, but I'd rather design the gutters out of the house....you don't need them, they're just one more unneccessary maintenance item...(IMHO)

6. 
   Guest_ | Feb 06, 2000 04:33am | #10

   *Andrew:Like your manufactured acronym. Mind if I "borrow" that one?

7. 
   Guest_ | Feb 06, 2000 11:39am | #11

   *Enjoy. Adapted from RTFM, the programmer's reply to questions from the users. :)