Raising/Fixing Gutters

[Dean]

Greetings,

Down one side of the house, the gutters are overflowing in the middle in heavy rain. They have been cleaned out etc, but I think over the years they have sagged and hence are not flowing to the downpipes.

Being a non-builder, how does one raise up the gutter where it has sagged (or possibly may have never been put up on the right slope to begin with - recently bought house).

I realise there may be several different methods of attaching gutters and different gutter systems, so if more info is needed, I can find out.

If I had the $$, I'd get a builder/plumber in to remedy it, but its just one side of the house on the single story section, so I can access it very easily etc.

Any advice/URL's on the subject would be appreciated.

[silentC]

Dean,

What has probably happened is that the front of the gutter has sagged. If you get up on a ladder and look along it, you'll probably see that the front of the gutter bows out and away from the house and dips in the middle as well. The water will tend to flow into the hollow created and flow over the edge if the downpipes aren't clearing it quick enough.

There are a number of different types of gutter but the most common one is the bullnose type with external clips. The clips have bent outwards under the weight of the water over the years, allowing the gutter to sag. They may have even separated from the fascia. If it's a fascia gutter with internal clips, it's probably the same story, although fascia gutters are a lot higher at the front and some of them are reinforced with an extra bracket at the top to stop this problem.

There is a quick and dirty way of fixing it using some light gauge wire to pull it back and secure it. It would be better though if you pulled the gutter off and replaced the clips and probably the gutter too, as it will no doubt be rusting out in the middle and will probably break anyway if you pull it down.

[soundman]

One of the problems can be "softwood facias. The spike type supports dont hold all that well in softwood facias.
Make sure you put enough supports.
think about the weight of a full gutter
calculate the volume per meter in liters & multiply by 1KG I you may be surprised.