OT: Roof Gutter Repair Options

dbCooper

My home has seamless aluminum gutters, with a couple end caps and ten 90 degree angle pieces.  There are seams where these pieces attach to the gutters, sealed with a white adhesive.  After 15 years this adhesive is deteriorated, resulting in minor drips from those locations. 

Ideally those seams could be resealed without the need for disassembly.  Ideas on how to accomplish this would be appreciated.

I am considering the aerosol FlexSeal product.  No experience with it however.  Thoughts?

Mattman3969

I’m with you on this one. My gutters are 18yrs old and had the same issue you’re talking about.  I have gutter helmets (hate) so I removed a couple of helmet sections each way of the corner and got rid of the roof grit and bad sealant and let everything dry for a couple of days.  Once it was dry I took NP1 urethane sealant and recaulked the joints and the pop rivets that held the joints together.  This was 6months ago and I’m still drip free.  Just use a good sealant and you’ll be fine.  I’ve never tried the FlexSeal so can’t comment on that 

ColtsFan

I recently had a "gutter tune-up" done at the new house. Seamless aluminum guttering, 180 feet in all. They used a product called Buytl-Flex and sealed the end caps, corners and downspouts.

leemschu

You can get gutter sealant at your local Lowe’s or HD. Where ever it is dripping you can remove the old when possible and but a bead of new. You can go over the old but I don’t recommend it cause it could cause you to hold water.

RRP

Mattman3969 said:

  I have gutter helmets (hate) 

Not sure why you hate your Gutter Helmet. I've had mine for maybe 15 years and just signed a contract 2 weeks ago to have 3 sections some 29 feet long in total replaced. Partly due to a tree falling on my roof crushing the helmet and the rest due to the roofers who I now know must have stepped on it in a few places and broke the brackets which keep the helmet in proper distance from the gutter underneath. Could the re-roofing be part of the reason you hate them?

My only complaint is HUGE icicles form and I have to get out and bust them. Even at that it sure beats having to clean my gutters!

Mattman3969

@RRP - My roof is a 12/12 and mostly on 2nd story and has a couple of dormers and a higher roof section that all dump into a couple of areas. With that kind of volume of water it runs right over the helmets and dumps on the ground. I took a couple of areas of helmets off and installed screens and am way more satisfied. Helmets may not be bad on lower pitch roofs but in my situation they suck 

RRP

Mattman3969 said:

@RRP - My roof is a 12/12 and mostly on 2nd story and has a couple of dormers and a higher roof section that all dump into a couple of areas. With that kind of volume of water it runs right over the helmets and dumps on the ground. I took a couple of areas of helmets off and installed screens and am way more satisfied. Helmets may not be bad on lower pitch roofs but in my situation they suck 

I gotcha! I can see where that would be a major problem! 

PBandJ

Home Depot or Lowe’s sells the sealant. It’s called gutter seal. Look in the gutter section of the store.

northGAcock

Go gutterless. 

loco_engr

forget flex-seal
I have yankee gutters/box gutters ( they are built in) sprayed heavily on some areas, no affect! 

JNDATHP

I have used this product - Flexseal. 

https://www.flexsealproducts.com/product/flex-seal/

Lit

I used the flexseal spray on a corner that was leaking like a year ago. Noticed it was leaking again and checked and the flexseal was gone. I put like half a can in the corner and went like 8” each direction and you couldnt even tell it was ever there. It might work good for some things but this isnt it. 

dbCooper

northGAcock said:

Go gutterless

I understand that is an option in some circumstances.  My area brings regular thunderstorms with 2+ inches of rain at times.  If that happens and a gutter or downspout is blocked by debris, water in the basement is possible.  The gutters prevent that.

alaskanassasin

Flex seal you guys? Really?

dbCooper

Thanks all for the insights.  FlexSeal got my attention as the aerosol application was attractive.  Based on what you folks are saying, that is not the correct solution to my problem.

alaskanassasin

alaskanassasin

All joking aside I like Solar Seal products, I use their #900 when installing corrugated metal roofs. It looks like they make a gutter seal

http://www.npcsealants.com/products.html

 Maybe worth a look.

 On the repair, I have never done one but if i were, I would get up into the gutter with scotch bright and soap to clean, rough, and prep the surface. once it is dry glue the seam from the inside and try to squeeze it into/under the seam.

 Also I assume you are talking about a dripping connection while it is raining, because if you have water in your gutters and they turn into bird baths for a few days they need to be adjusted to drain.

dbCooper

alaskanassasin said:

All joking aside I like Solar Seal products, I use their #900 when installing corrugated metal roofs. It looks like they make a gutter seal

http://www.npcsealants.com/products.html

 Maybe worth a look.

 On the repair, I have never done one but if i were, I would get up into the gutter with scotch bright and soap to clean, rough, and prep the surface. once it is dry glue the seam from the inside and try to squeeze it into/under the seam.

 Also I assume you are talking about a dripping connection while it is raining, because if you have water in your gutters and they turn into bird baths for a few days they need to be adjusted to drain.

Thank you, lots of good info provided there.  I clean them twice a year using a garden hose, the drainage slope seems fine.  Mainly wanting to seal up the dripping before it progresses to a steady stream.