How To Install Copper Gutters

Q: I got rid of the rusty old gutters on my 1830s farmhouse. At present I demand new ones. What should I supersede them with?

—Susan Choyce, Stow, Mass.

Kevin Lyons, Hayden-Lyons Roofs of Distinction, replies: I'd recommend that yous install traditional half-round gutters in copper. The style is appropriate to your firm, and y'all'll never have to worry about the copper rusting.

Hanging them is non hard, equally long as you have a helper to elevator and set the sections in place. But first you lot demand to size up your situation and so that you lot tin can lodge the parts. Ask yourself: What lengths practice I demand? Will each gutter get i downspout or two? And what most the fascia, where the gutters attach? Is it angled or plumb? Is information technology fifty-fifty sound? (If information technology isn't, repair it.)

When the parts arrive, locate the loftier point of the gutter's run—the farthest point from a single downspout or the midpoint between two. Then you can set the pitch, and the balance is all downhill.

Shown: Kevin Lyons fits a downspout elbow to a copper gutter. Its shine will fade, but this durable metal will last a lifetime.

Stride 1

Set The Pitch

Photo by Matthew Benson

At the high signal of the gutter'due south run, concord a bracket and a section of gutter against the fascia, with the gutter's outer lip but under the airplane of the roof. Make a marker with a pencil for the bracket's spiral hole. Use a h2o level to make a matching mark at the downspout end. Measure down from that marker, ½ inch for every 10 anxiety of run, and mark the low point. Snap a chalk line betwixt the loftier and low marks, and yous have your pitch.

Stride 2

Attach The Brackets

Photo by Matthew Benson

For best back up, screw the brackets to the rafter tails; nailheads on the fascia give abroad their location. To make up one's mind which rafters get brackets, figure that they should be laid out evenly across the span no more than than 32 inches apart. Drill pilot holes where the chalk line crosses the selected rafters, so spiral the brackets to the fascia. On angled fascia, wedges (shown) make the brackets plumb.

Step three

Cut The Downspout Holes

Photograph past Matthew Benson

Measure in from the end of the roof to the point straight above where you programme to adhere each downspout. Typically, they run inboard of corner trim; how far depends on their bracket's size. Transfer those measurements to the gutter, and cut the downspout holes with a hole saw or with metal shears, as shown.

Step 4

Hang The Gutter

Photo by Matthew Benson

With a helper or two, set the gutter into identify on the brackets, taking intendance not to scratch the soft metallic. Claw the back border to the subclass, then hold down the front edge using bound hooks, screws, or stainless-steel popular rivets (shown).

Step v

Solder The Seams

Photo past Matthew Benson

On all end caps (shown) and seams, polish the metallic with 300-dust emery textile and brush on flux. Estrus each seam with a torch until the flux bubbling, then feed a bar of 50/fifty solder onto the hot metal. Once cool, wipe the solder clean.

Footstep six

Install The Downspouts

Photo by Matthew Benson

Assemble the downspouts and elbows so that each upper piece fits inside a lower one. Slip the superlative elbow over the outlet fitting, bank check that the downspout is vertical, and adhere brackets, every bit shown, nearly the elbows at the top and bottom.

Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/gutters/21016613/how-to-install-a-half-round-gutter

Posted by: fonteand1948.blogspot.com

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