I have a gutter leaking. The start price is $450 if I hire a company. I wonder if I could do it by myself but not sure what materials.
I saw the leaking is from the joint section of the gutter and the wall.
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1Fixing should be easy. Clean the joint well, and apply caulking or even roofing tar. The problem is working up high safely. Should have at least a second person to hold a ladder or the better idea is to rent a man lift(a small job of just that joint, makes renting harder).– crip659Commented Jun 19, 2023 at 16:14
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1Where is the gutter leaking? Maybe identify it in this pic, since it's not obvious. Maybe a better pic. "Joint of the gutter and wall" means at the left end of the gutter where the end-cap is? Also, agree with @crip659's suggestion, though if this gutter is at the first floor level, renting a man lift is a bit overkill. Round where I live, that'd cost almost as much as hiring someone else to do it...– FreeManCommented Jun 19, 2023 at 18:06
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1An extension ladder leaned against the wall to the left will allow you to lean into the wall while working to your right. Get a stabilizer for it if that will make you feel better. An A-frame ladder will (due to its shape) push you away from both walls requiring you to lean farther than you'll feel comfortable. If you're asking about the ladder, please edit your question to ask about the ladder, otherwise, discussion about the ladder is a bit off-topic for this particular question (I think...).– FreeManCommented Jun 19, 2023 at 19:05
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1You're gonna want a ladder long enough for you to be able to work from above (because you'll want to do the sealing inside the gutter). Most Home Depots, and some Lowe's have ladder rentals, if you don't have your own. If no HD or Lowe's, maybe there's a regular tool rental place. You don't say how high this is, but if it's a single story home, HD rents a 15' reach extension ladder for $25/4hr.– HuesmannCommented Jun 20, 2023 at 12:39
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1This site alone has over 100 posts on ladder safety. Can check them out for ideas for safety. I would suggest to have a person at the bottom to help hold the ladder at the minimum(or to call 911). Ropes/harness and anchors will depend on the location of the work.– crip659Commented Jun 20, 2023 at 13:13
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2 Answers
Fixed it by hiring a gutter company. It costs me $100 just for my safety.
Looks like a doug fir wood gutter, which would be consistent with the vintage brick, vintage wood shutters, and non-planar roof. Also, there is no end cap visible which is how vinyl and aluminum gutters are terminated.
The proper way to terminate the end of a wood gutter is with lead flashing contoured and sloped, let in with a chisel so that it is flush. After chiseling out, asphalt roofing (comes in cans or tubes) is applied to the newly exposed wood in order to bed the lead, and secured with copper tacks, then the seem and tack heads are wiped with a thin layer of asphalt. For all this, you'll might want to wear some gloves, but since you are not doing this regularly, I doubt gloves matter health wise.
Your gutter may have been installed this way, in which case you just need to de-tack, lift up the lead, remove/scrap and old asphalt that you can, apply new asphalt, and re tack it. This is common maintenance for wood gutters. It's not hard, but if you are not up to it, your only choice is to get someone else to do it, providing they know what required.
However, it looks like the gutter is attached directly to the fascia. That's a no-no for wood gutters and not a good idea for any type of gutter. The proper way is to space it off 1/4" or so, to give the back side of the gutter breathing room. That fact that it isn't suggests that the end was not terminated properly in the first place, so you'll be working from scratch. Another indication that it is not terminated properly is the absence of a wrap-over of the lead along the top lip.
So if it is attached directly to fascia, you'll want to schedule and budget for the gutters to be removed and reinstalled properly within the next couple of years. This will likely require a new course of drip edge backed by a 1x2 or similar nailed directly to the fascia. Otherwise, the rafter tails etc will rot along with the fascia.
