BobVila.com

cost prohibitive? Depends on your budget and long range plans.

In the seventies, a lot of wood gutters here got shingled right over. They would run cedar shingles across the gutter to cover them, then use the metal drip on the cedar, then shingle up with regular asphalt shingles.

Then after ten years or so, folks noticed foundation problems suddenly cropping up after a hundred years. They were dumping runnof from the roof right on the ground near the foundation.

So they "fixed" the problem by adding all manner of AL gutters hanging off the eaves, bugggering up the looks of the place.

Those roofs are now worn out and ready to replace. I regularly repare wood gutters and find most of them in repairable condition. I use a product called Git-Rot for punky spots and minwax wood filler for missing wood. I insert new lead drops to downpipe and scrape the insides of the gutter to clean wood, or use a wire brush on a dril motor, or both.

The traditional treatment for upkeep is to oil with linseed every two years and clean them every six months. There is rarely a need to replace wood gutter that is properly maintained. m,odern liofestyles tend to forgive lackadaisical maintainance though.

The main reason for more extensive repairs is when a house has settled and the wood gutter follows that movement so that water drains away from the intended drops or pools in the gutters. Ironically, sometimes the reason for house settling is poor or non-existing gutter upkeep.

Excellence is its own reward!