For everyone who has gutters and/or rain catchin equipment...might begin to think about a little pre-monsoon cleaning. You dont want a bunch of sediment, and other crud in your tank that might gunk up the taps and spigots. Especially if you have a tree overhead, that added weight to the gutters can yoink the hangers or spikes right out, not to metion the POO factor...yuk.By the way, I just finished putting up my front gutters (in 4 hours...ta daah) and will be hooking into my 310 gallon tank tomorrow!! Can't wait! Which I'll be doing as a buisness for a "teacher 2nd job" soon. Wish me luck...PHX needs it.P.S. look for a future work party/class when I put in a 20 foot French Drain to feed driveway shading trees with roof runoff!Let the winds begin to change...(definition of Monsoon)
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Hey Nick - I've got a son home from college who can't find a job so we are 'hiring' him to do stuff around home and one of the things we need to do is add gutters. How difficult was it and where did you get your gutters? Thanks - Michele Spiller
For a one man job...pretty frustrating, but do-able. The biggest problem was holding up the gutters at the right angle by myself...but I rigged up a device to help with that. I got my gutters (metal) from Home Depot. About 5 or 6 bucks for 10 foot runs. The MOST important part of the project is to get the slope right. Gotta hit about a 1/4 inch per 10 feet. More if you expect a lot of debris. I dont trust levels completely when working on the roof angle so best thing is to keep testing with Mother Natures level...Water! The store has a phamplet that explains quite a bit and all the parts you will need. All in all, I am able to put up 30 feet per day. (wait! that was without the current temps!! Maybe shoot for 30 feet in 3 or 4 mornings! haha)
Good luck!
Thanks for the tips - I picked up the info at Home Depot this afternoon. Now I'm trying to convince my younger son it would be fun to work with his brother installing gutters - probably isn't going to happen so I'll end up as the gutter holder...Luckily my college son just put shade cloth up over the back patio so I think that's where we'll install the gutters first.
For cost, you can't beat Home Depot or Lowes gutters. However, those are only 4" wide - for the heavy rains we can get here in the summer, I would recommend 5" or even 6" (for large roofs) gutters. And I would highly recommend aluminum over vinyl. Once you add everything up (brackets, shims, adhesive, screws, paint, etc), it's not really a bad idea to hire a pro to do it. They have pre-colored seamless gutters that they can install in a matter of hours, and they match the color of your house without having to paint them. Plan on $7-$8 per foot, though, but don't forget the state's 25% tax credit for water conservation systems - and gutters are part of the "system" if it's all done at once. So you'll get 25% of the cost back at tax time.
ps - Let's all hope for a good El Nino wet winter after our bust of a monsoon this year!
I don't have any branches over my gutters. Plus with our dust...I've seen quite a bit of accumulated mud and pollen up there. Debris covers are a good idea when needed, and I might someday if my future mesquites get big enough!
Nick -
For your gutters, did you just use materials from a home center or from a specialty outlet? Any advice/recommendations? I'm planning to install gutters this summer as well.
Please email me directly - would love to talk about your french drain.
Thanks!
Replies
Good luck!
ps - Let's all hope for a good El Nino wet winter after our bust of a monsoon this year!
For your gutters, did you just use materials from a home center or from a specialty outlet? Any advice/recommendations? I'm planning to install gutters this summer as well.
Please email me directly - would love to talk about your french drain.
Thanks!
- VYNNIE
602.770.1613
terrafirmaaz@yahoo.com