Gutter repair

Does paint and being steel really make them hold better? I think they just wanted to put all those words on the label, so they put them in one sentence.

I don't know what mine are made of, probably steel, and I know they are brown and match the brown gutters (which is why I think there is paint on them), and they've worked fine for me.

It's been far more than 5 years since the first ones went in.

But only about half of the nails have been replaced with screws, and that's only on the south side of the house. On the north side, out of the sun, I think it's all the original nails, 36 years old.

I probably bought them at HD too. I have half a box left. If I come across them I'll tell you waht it says.

Right. If they made spikes that are bigger, they would hold better too, but screws are better still.

Another option is to abandon the current spikes & ferrules and use brackets:

There are many types to choose from. A couple of examples are these internal ones:

and these external ones:

When I had my gutters replaced a few years ago, they got rid of the spikes (which were doing what yours are doing) and used the internal brackets.