Repair decaying wooden gutter

[blueman]

We have some "architectual" wooden gutters, a portion of which is decaying/rotting from the inside.

Since the decaying run is only about 6 feet long and since replacing it would be very expensive, I am looking to repair it.

I am considering the following but am very open to feedback and/or new or better ideas.

1. Wash out the accumulated dirt and decayed leaves from the gutter [done]. Let dry.
2. Scrape away the worst of the rotted wood (I hope that I don't have to be too aggressive here)
3. Use RotFix (a low viscosity epoxy) to solidfy the remaining wood including the semi-rotted areas that I don't remove [supposedly RotFix is pretty tolerant here]
4. Use SculptWood (a wood like epoxy that you shape like putty) to fill major gouges and holes
5. Coat the entire inside gutter with System3 epoxy - Not sure what faring I should use if any - Wondering also whether I should consider embedding a fiberglass-like layer in the epoxy (if so, what type should I use)?
6. Seal any remaining joints with standard gutter caulk

I would think that an approach like the above would make the gutters last at least another 100 years while doing nothing to disrupt the exterior look.

Any comments?

[dpb]

[salty]

Epoxy will have to be covered with some sort of coating to protect it from UV exposure.

The fiberglass is a good idea. It will help hold the wood together.

[dpb]

...

...

Missing step is fix the underlying cause of why this particular section is failing--generally there's a drainage or other problem that instigated the failure that needs attention else the other repair is likely to not last.

Don't know that particular brand/product name, but the wood restoration epoxies I've used recommend not removing anything but absolutely loose material. Keep as much of the original as possible and inject the stabilizing product either via drilling small holes or use a syringe to do so. Only use the solid repair material to replace actual missing material. Never used fiberglass in these kinds of repairs; when they became available did use the microballoons on occasion for bulking up the solid filler to be slightly more economical.

In general, once had a finish surface returned, did not coat it other than painting as the original surfaces were; for gutters if there is not another problem such as slope so water is standing, it should not be susceptible to recurrence.

I've done quite a lot of ante-bellum restoration work in the Lynchburg, VA, area years ago on that basis that has lasted nearly 30 years so far...

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[ransley]

Rot is killed with bleach easily, the rot is a living plant or organism that eats wood under the right conditions, so kill it first. There are liqued products used on boats where you drill holes in softer wood and pour in a thin liqued to stabilise it, Minwax has or had a version I used once. Try to change what is causing the rot, maybe pitch is wrong. Coating with epoxy after you fixed a few issues is a good idea

[Bob F]

Are the rest of the gutters wood also? If so, the advise I got from a redwood gutter supplier was to coat them every year or two with "shingle oil".

This is a non-drying oil which prevents water penetration while still allowing the wood to breath. Do not coat the wood with any kind of sealing layer, as that will increase the rot problem. The epoxy treated area would be an exception, I guess.

I had to buy a 5 gallon bucket of the oil, but it will last me my life.

I use an appropriate stiff brush to loosen the crud, blow it out with my air compressor, then brush the oil on.

Replacing the section shouldn't be that hard of a job if you can find the gutter. I did also learn some tricks about joints in wood gutters if that would be of use.

[blueman]

Thanks for the bleach suggestion.

Cause I think is the combination of:

1. Downspout was clogged at some point [fixed]
2. Leaves and dirt had accumulated in the gutter (some plants even started to grow) [fixed]
3. Old age (100+ years) with who knows what history of care

[blueman]

Unfortunately, most of the original gutters on other parts of the house have been replaced with vanilla white aluminum. I hope one day to replace them either with wood or copper (I need to do more research into what is most consistent with the original house architecture).

There are only a few remaining stretches of wood over the porches. About 8-10 feet here where the rot is maybe another 15 feet on another porch. My guess is that it would be difficult to finding an existing matching stock wooden gutter given the age and that taking off the old gutter is only opening myself up to creating/finding and having to repair more problems.

The home itself is "historic" including an original part from the late

18th century and the main Italianate Mansard portion from the 1870's

-- I am really trying to be good in preserving the style and materials even when the newer stuff is "cheaper" or "lower maintenance".

[jamesgangnc]

Most of those special "rot fix" products are simply ordinary two part epoxy thinned with something. You can do that yourself. After mixing the epoxy add a little alcohol.

[Paul Oman]

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you might kill remaining rot with anti freeze after removing the worst of the rot. Then solvent thinned epoxy for sealing - then either thickened epoxy with perhaps chunks of wood for filling in chipped out areas etc., then a FLEXIBLE epoxy paint (marine epoxies are brittle and will not handing the expansion and contractions of the wood); Then optionally a coat of paint as epoxies will slowly breakdown over time.

paul oman/progressive epoxy polymers

[JIMMIE]

When the wood gutters on the old library went beyound repair a local handy man made new ones. It really wasnt very difficult to do but require a table saw. The part that I thought would be the most difficult was cuttiing the trough but that was actually very easy and the guy let me do it(I was about 15 at the time). We feed the wood diagonal across the blade of the table saw starting with the blade barely above the surface of the table and raising it a little on each pass. Im 56 now and the old library has been replaced but until about

10 years ago I really enjoyed riding by and seeing those gutters I helped build. Every kid should have a chance to do something good that they can remember for the rest of their life.

Jimmie