Good idea gone wrong at home

[Sargent's Fox Hole]

I live in the city and the back of my house is 6' from the property line, and my neighbor's fence. On their side of the fence is a huge tulip tree, which has huge leaves, and every Fall, many of their leaves, end up in my gutter... the pic shows how large these leaves are compared to a normal size leaf. Plus the tulip tree has alot of other debris, similar to the 'whirly-birds' from maple trees....and these really clog up my gutters.



So, I decided to get pro-active and install gutter guards that I bought at Ace Hardware, figuring this would be the last Fall, that I would have to drag out the extention ladder.....yeah right.



Last week, after it rained, I could hear something drip, drip, dripping on my aluminum window awnings, and it wasn't like the normal pitter-patter of rain.

When I went outside, it seemed that the water was coming off the roof, rolling across the gutter guard and over the edge of the gutter, instead of the water going through the holes in the guard, into the gutter.

At this point, I figured that when it rained, I would just put up with the annoying dripping sound...annoying, very similar to a drippy bathroom faucet in the middle of the night....because these gutter guards are keeping those leaves out of my gutter!!! My mind was only working in Fall Yard Work mode....not Winter mode.

Well, today it snowed for the 1st time this fall/winter season. Again I heard the drip, drip, drip on my aluminum awnings. Upon examination, I found this "accident waiting to happen".....



I took one look at those mini icicles and my mind immediately went to....the middle of winter....mamouth icicles pulling the gutter OFF my house.... and then the falling mamouth icicles + gutters....pulling the awnings OFF the house....probably in the middle of the night.

Now, I have to climb back up on the extention ladder, that I didn't want to haul out again, and remove the gutter guards and just put up with the leaves.....OR.....can anyone think of a way I might be able to adjust or alter the gutter guards, so that they work better????

[puff]

What about zap strapping something to the middle of the gutter protector like a hose or piece of wood trim..? Place it half way or so down the length, should stop most of the water and when it freezes and thaws the run off should flow over the hose or trim into the gutter..?

My .02 worth..!

[ependydad]

I have the same cheap DIY gutter guards and am not happy with them. We don't deal with cold and ice like you show already- but the water does just come off of them.

I've removed them from the front of our house and just periodically clean the leaves out.

I would like one of the commercial "Gutter Helmet" type of professionally installed products, but haven't ever gotten quotes and assume it's out of my price range.

[Ford Idaho]

Related?

I just noticed the ad for an insurance Co. with a picture of Mike Holmes next to this thread...

[crunchman12001]

Hi,
The reason your gutter covers are not working is because they allow the snow to form to ice on top of them.
Even the professional "gutter helmet" type of covers will do the same for $20.00 / per LF installed.
The reason gutters clog with ice is because when the snow hits the heated portion of your roof, it melts and as that melted water runs down to your unheated overhang, it freezes and clogs the gutter toppers. The remaining water flows over the frozen gutter and creates icicles or worse, ice dams.
The only way to keep the gutters flowing is to install Roof De-Icing Cables
I use the cables on some of my gutter runs and have no icicle issues at all. I use the downspout screens similar to these but are a little wire basket shaped like a light bulb that fit into the downspout from the inside of the gutter.
Once a year i do still pull the downspout screen to clean them but no issues because the remaining debris runs down the downspout onto the lawn.
You could cut your DIY screens around the heat cables but it would be more of a PITA that it is worth IMO.
You could have the cables installed by a local handy man but you would have to pay the PITA charge for him to cut around the cables.
Keep us posted.
Yes, in another life I sold the $20 per LF all day long and laughed when the customer said they froze in the winter and caused icicles when I sold them exactly what they wanted.. To never clean leaves out of the gutters again but we never mentioned the icicle issue.
crunchman

[tosh99]

Long termite drill bit and concentrated Round Up. We killed a bunch of olive trees on the other side of a fence, but with the other property owners permission. We took down the trees and even paid for the dumpster to haul the debris away. Problem solved.

[Twisty]

Cut off all of the limbs that hang over the property line.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by Twisty

Cut off all of the limbs that hang over the property line.

Oh yea,and stop the Wind from blowing the rest of the leaves over on your property also? Youroo!!

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by youroo

Oh yea,and stop the Wind from blowing the rest of the leaves over on your property also? Youroo!!

Didn't you get the anti-wind device I sent? It stops all the pine needles from falling and deflects the leaves into the neighbors yard.

[Sargent's Fox Hole]

Originally Posted by Twisty

Cut off all of the limbs that hang over the property line.

Been there, done that....this spring. Cost me $$$$ to hire a tree crew to come in with their bucket truck and trim 3 trees, that had unwanted branches hanging on my side of neighbors fence.....boy did those trees look stupid.

[Sargent's Fox Hole]

Originally Posted by sargent's fox hole

been there, done that....this spring. Cost me $$$$ to hire a tree crew to come in with their bucket truck and trim 3 trees, that had unwanted branches hanging on my side of neighbors fence.....boy did those trees look stupid. :d

This pic shows how close the back of my house is to the neighbors fence

The tree that is the main culprit [tulip tree], is the 1 that looks like it is growing out of the cab of the bucket truck

The crew is trimming branches from 2 other nusiance trees....Mulberry trees that weren't there 6 years ago when I bought my house....I guess some birds ate Mulberries for lunch and made a deposit....

[Sargent's Fox Hole]

Originally Posted by tosh99

Long termite drill bit and concentrated Round Up. We killed a bunch of olive trees on the other side of a fence, but with the other property owners permission. We took down the trees and even paid for the dumpster to haul the debris away. Problem solved.

Thanks for your 'if all else fails' solution.

Yesterday, when I was outside on my extention ladder....taking down the gutter guards that I had recently installed, my neighbor's son asked for the phone # of the tree service that I used in the spring, to trim their tree branches, that hung over my on my side of the fence.

Son told me that Mom has decided to take down that tree, in the Spring. Son has to do all the outside work cleaning up, so maybe he talked her into getting rid of their "1/2 tree" It did look really stupid ....a 50' tree with foliage only on their side!!!

So if that tree isn't taken down in the Spring, I have a feeling that a Devil Tree Fairy is going to pay that tree a visit.....using you solution!!!

[tosh99]

Leaves may be the least of your problems depending on the tree. My GF's parents house had a cracked sewer line in the backyard due to a neighbors rubber tree roots. We could see roots that were entering their crawl space which was about fifty feet from the actual tree.

[F and E Damp]

Same here. Wit us it's a monster weeping willow in the yard behind us. It must be 80-feet across. Next door neighbors recently came back form 3 years in Nevada, having rented the house while away. They got a tree crew to come and trim all their trees, and we had them do everything that overhung our yard from that willow. Took them about 3 hours and cost $300. Travel costs not an issue, as they were next door already.

We'd tried to get the owner of the house with the willow to do something about it, but he rents the house out, lives on one of the San Juan Islands and doesn't seem to care.

[jevanb]

I put them on my house also, and they have been on for 4 years. never once did they not work or clog up with ice. and we do get a lot of that here in MI. my longest run is 50 feet . I did notice on another part of the house I cant seem to keep the screen on the bottom of the guard but I think it is from the sun side all day and in the winter it is shielded from the cold wind

[Pipeman]

All the leaves that fall onto my front yard from my neighbours have their names on them therefore allowing me to return them........

[cbconway]

I also have the same gutter guards and had problems with water pouring over them during heavy rains. I think the problem was, at least in part, due to the fact that they were installed with one side up under the shingles and the other side snapped into the gutter flange. This resulted in the guards being canted at a 40 to 50 degree angle in spots, causing rain to run down and drip from the edge of the gutter. I cut the guards so that they laid flat on the gutter, allowing water to go through. This seemed to solve the run-over problem. However, the gutters need to be swept of debris more often.

[Sargent's Fox Hole]

Originally Posted by cbconway

I also have the same gutter guards and had problems with water pouring over them during heavy rains. I think the problem was, at least in part, due to the fact that they were installed with one side up under the shingles and the other side snapped into the gutter flange. This resulted in the guards being canted at a 40 to 50 degree angle in spots, causing rain to run down and drip from the edge of the gutter. I cut the guards so that they laid flat on the gutter, allowing water to go through. This seemed to solve the run-over problem. However, the gutters need to be swept of debris more often.

I spent $$$ buying the gutter guards, spent time installing them, and spent more time taking them back off, cause they created a different problem.....and I love your idea of trimming them so that they lay flat on the gutter!!! I'm all into adapting and re-purposing things....so what have I got to lose, but more time.

Sounds like a spring-time project. thanks

[tinkerreknit]

While you're thinking about your options, check out this system GutterBrush Gutter Guards - Keep Your Rain Gutters Clean
I haven't used them, nor am I affiliated with the company - I just surfed across the website some time ago.