If you’ve read our blog, you’ve likely learned how important it is for your gutters to be pitched properly towards the downspouts in order to drain water. While this concept seems obvious — properly pitching gutters from end-to-end — it is surprisingly difficult to find in practice as found on these Knoxville gutters.
Take this 1920s Knoxville, Tennessee, colonial. When the homeowner contacted us – citing that her recently installed 6” aluminum gutters weren’t performing properly – we found frowning gutters when we visited her home.
Droopy disconnected Knoxville gutters
Generally under-pitched gutters are a problem. But this wasn’t the case. These gutters had plenty of pitch. In fact, I dubbed these gutters “frowning gutters” because they were installed high in the middle and drooped down very far on each end. Looking at the house from the ground, it looked like the gutters were frowning. It was a sad sight!
The homeowner believed was that she had bad wood or no facia boards behind the aluminum fascia wrap and she was worried about critters getting into her attic. Additionally, on the droopiest part, water was spilling over the gutters to the ground because the gutters had disconnected from the house.
To put this into perspective, her gutters were installed about 2 years ago. So she has nearly new gutters that were not working properly.
Poor gutter pitch and placement
My recommendation was to reduce the pitch in the gutters by loosening and reconnecting them with the correct pitch by using a level and then installing our MasterShield gutter guards that slides under the first course of shingles. This would close any open gaps between the roof decking and the gutters, and would keep out critters and inclement weather.
Check for water damage and bad wood
The homeowner asked that if we found any bad wood, to let her know so she could have it replaced. She had a bad experience with her roofer, who said there was rotted roof decking and charged her for replacing the plywood but never actually replaced the bad wood with new decking. She didn’t want to be burned twice. I reassured her that if we found any bad wood, we’d replace it.
After removing the gutter, our installer is removing aluminum fascia wrap to expose and replace the decayed fascia boardsDecaying fascia boards
Once we climbed the ladders, we found that most of the fascia boards had deteriorated to the extent that the wood crumbled in our hands.
The gutters had been installed with an extreme slope because it was hard to find good wood into which to attach the screws. Modern day gutter hangers are designed to screw into fascia boards and stay put. These gutters had pulled away from the house on one end. That’s a sign that they either weren’t screwed in to begin with or the wood behind the gutters is bad and the gutters simply pulled away from the boards. In this case, it was the latter. Bad wood abound behind the aluminum fascia wrap.
Gutters nailed rather than screwed
The gutter installers had also nailed the gutters to the facia boards because it was evident that the screws in the hangers were not biting into the wood.
It’s beyond us why the previous gutter installers didn’t alert the homeowner about this issue.
How did we fix these Knoxville gutters?
We determined that to properly fix the problem, we’d need to remove both upper sections of gutter on the front and back of the house, secure the aluminum soffit panels that were held in place by the aluminum fascia wrap, remove the fascia wrap, and then replace the fascia boards as necessary. We also determined that some of the rafter tails were similarly decayed at the exposed ends, so we may have to sister sections of 2×4 lumber to create nail points for the new 1×8 pine boards that would become the new fascia boards.
AFTER: Fascia boards were replaced & gutters rehung, creating a symmetrical look
Full project management: gutter guards, fascia wrap, gutter installation
In the end, we replaced about 100-feet of wood that had rotted due to leaking gutters; we reinstalled the aluminum fascia wrap, rehung the gutters with the correct pitch, and installed MasterShield gutter guards. This additional work cost the homeowner about 50% more than the original gutter guard estimate, and it added a second day to the job; however, she and we agreed that it was the only way to correct the problems and do the job right.
Needless to say, she is pleased with the fact that we kept our word by fixing a problem that would have only gotten worse; we gave her newish gutters a new lease on life, and we installed gutter guards that will no longer require her hiring handymen to clean her gutters.
Knoxville gutters free estimate
If you are experiencing water and leaking gutter problems, get your free, no obligation estimate or call us at 1-865-622-2141.
Gutter Guards Direct services homeowners in Knoxville, West Knoxville, South Knoxville, Farragut, Clinton, Oak Ridge, Fountain City, Maryville, Alcoa, Sevierville, Kingston, Loudon, Lenoir City, Tellico Village or anywhere else in greater Knoxville.
With more than 26-years experience, we can help you assess the source of your water and gutter issues, and provide you with a solution to fix the problems once-and-for-all.
Share your Knoxville gutters problems, issues and fixes…
Why do you think the previous Knoxville gutters contractor ignored the obvious bad wood issues and didn’t bring it to the homeowners attention so it could be fixed properly the first time?
What issues have you experienced with your gutters and what have you done to fix the problems?
