Gutter Nail Replacement?

[Ron Hardin]

My gutter is coming down at one end - three consecutive nails have worked themselves out over 40 years, I guess.

I climbed up there to hammer them back in, but they show almost no resistance to hammering - you could just push them back in the holes by hand.

Obviously they will not stay.

Are there various diameter gutter nails, and I just have to go up one size?

Wrap them in something like friction tape and them hammer them back?

Glue of some sort to encourage them to stay put?

What's the drill for this?

[Frank]

Ron,

There are gutter screws:

Never tried but I had heard of them.

Frank

[gfretwell]

My bet is the facia board is rotted out. You could try a regular gutter nail a few inches away.

[Clot]

I wondered that as well. If it is the case, then affixing the gutter should only be a temporary measure whilst arranging to replace the fascia.

[salty]

I've used them. I had one area of gutter that was pulling away and water was running down inside the siding. The gutter screws pulled it tight against the house better than new. I have since gone around the whole house and replaced all nails with the screws. It makes a big difference in how secure the gutters are.

That was 15 years ago. No problems since. I've seen them at Home Depot.

[hrhofmann]

ALternately, fill the hole with hot glue for a quick fix, then drill it out just enough for a pilot hole, and renail

[SteveBell]

The nails are supposed to go into the ends of the rafter tails behind the fascia. The fascia is likely just 3/4" thick, which doesn't provide much strength.

[Clot]

Appreciated, that's the point that I have obviously not expressed clearly. The rotted fascia needs to be replaced to avoid affecting the rafter tails ( if they have not already been affected).

[salty]

I believe it would be worth it, and no more effort, to do it properly and permanently with gutter screws.

[salty]

You are assuming there is rot. It ain't neccesarily so.

[Red Green]

Ron Hardin wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I just put up a 20 ft section of gutter today. I tried the gutter screws others spoke of:

They worked awesome. Square drive head and the box of 10 includes 7" screws, ferrules and a driver bit. Drove it with an 18v drill.

And now, as mentioned, the fascia board can't be rotten or any wood behind that. The screws are supposed to be put in the ends of the trusses/rafters (most likely 24" apart) for full contact penetration. If you miss it it will just go through the 3/4" fascia board into open air...

unless...

your rafters/trusses have a rafter cap on them. If that's the case then all along the fascia board you have a 2xN. Still, try to hit the rafter end.

[Clot]

Agreed.

[Red Green]

"hr(bob) [e-mail]" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

As long as the hole is dry and not rotted it would be well worth it to fix it permanantly right off. Go buy a dowel of the correct diameter (hopefully it's slightly larger). Cover with exterior wood glue and pound in with a hammer. Cut off. Let dry overnight. Reattach.

[aemeijers]

No, but some poking around with a flashlight and an ice pick is probably a good idea. If the ice pick meets little resistance, and if it comes out with black gunk on the end, well....

-- aem sends...