We had a big thaw around Albany, NY last week and I got out in my
backyard to look around a little at what winter did to the yard. The
yard is OK but I noticed that half of the nails holding the gutter up
on my 3-season porch are backed out an inch or so. They are so loose
I can push them back in or grab them and pull them out with my hand.
I can't easily move them -- I'd leave a big hole in the side of lip of
the gutter where the nail used to be -- so I imagine I have to replace
or reinforce them. I didn't take the gutter down but there doesn't
seem to be any damage to the eaves. I'll replace the front of the
eaves if I must but that seems like overkill. Any recommendations?

Christopher Nelson wrote:
We had a big thaw around Albany, NY last week and I got out in my
backyard to look around a little at what winter did to the yard. The
yard is OK but I noticed that half of the nails holding the gutter up
on my 3-season porch are backed out an inch or so. They are so loose
I can push them back in or grab them and pull them out with my hand.
I can't easily move them -- I'd leave a big hole in the side of lip of
the gutter where the nail used to be -- so I imagine I have to replace
or reinforce them. I didn't take the gutter down but there doesn't
seem to be any damage to the eaves. I'll replace the front of the
eaves if I must but that seems like overkill. Any recommendations?

One at a time, pull them out, and shove a skinny dowel or a plastic
anchor in the hole, and tap the nail back in. That isn't a permanent
fix, but it should buy you a couple years. A semi-permanent fix would be
to replace with long skinny lag bolts, a hair larger or longer than the
nails, but that would still fit through the tubes that hold the gutter
open. If you can find a cheap source, you could squirt epoxy in the holes.

--
aem sends...

On Mon, 9 Mar 2009 15:49:26 -0700 (PDT), Christopher Nelson
wrote:

We had a big thaw around Albany, NY last week and I got out in my
backyard to look around a little at what winter did to the yard. The
yard is OK but I noticed that half of the nails holding the gutter up
on my 3-season porch are backed out an inch or so. They are so loose
I can push them back in or grab them and pull them out with my hand.
I can't easily move them -- I'd leave a big hole in the side of lip of
the gutter where the nail used to be -- so I imagine I have to replace
or reinforce them. I didn't take the gutter down but there doesn't
seem to be any damage to the eaves. I'll replace the front of the
eaves if I must but that seems like overkill. Any recommendations?

I used gutter screws. Designed for just this purpose. A lot like
nails, but screws. HomeDepot, for example, has them in white and
brown, in boxes of iirc 10. Maybe other colors are available online?
They probably won't last forever**, but it only took a minute each and
it's been two years so far.

**otoh, it's the nature of nails that they make a hole as big as they
are. The thing holding them in is the squeezieness of the wood. Once
the screw is in, the squeezieness can taper off completely, but unless
the wood recedes, there is still wood in the way of the screw coming
straight out. And it's going to take a long time to unscrew. So I'll
be looking forward to see how long they last. So far, no sign that
they are coming out.



o loose

"mm" wrote in message
I used gutter screws. Designed for just this purpose. A lot like
nails, but screws. HomeDepot, for example, has them in white and
brown, in boxes of iirc 10. Maybe other colors are available online?
They probably won't last forever**, but it only took a minute each and
it's been two years so far.

I did the same. First I banged the nails back in but that lasted less than
a year. The screws are easy and have lasted over 5 years so far.

On Mon, 9 Mar 2009 21:48:57 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
I used gutter screws. Designed for just this purpose. A lot like
nails, but screws. HomeDepot, for example, has them in white and
brown, in boxes of iirc 10. Maybe other colors are available online?
They probably won't last forever**, but it only took a minute each and
it's been two years so far.

I did the same. First I banged the nails back in but that lasted less than
a year. The screws are easy and have lasted over 5 years so far.

I tried banging them back in too. I asked the roofer to do it,and I
have plenty reason to think he would have done it, but it rained as he
was finishing and I think he forgot.

It also lasted about a year.

make sure you get the right size
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber


"mm" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 9 Mar 2009 21:48:57 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:


"mm" wrote in message
I used gutter screws. Designed for just this purpose. A lot like
nails, but screws. HomeDepot, for example, has them in white and
brown, in boxes of iirc 10. Maybe other colors are available online?
They probably won't last forever**, but it only took a minute each and
it's been two years so far.

I did the same. First I banged the nails back in but that lasted less
than
a year. The screws are easy and have lasted over 5 years so far.

I tried banging them back in too. I asked the roofer to do it,and I
have plenty reason to think he would have done it, but it rained as he
was finishing and I think he forgot.

It also lasted about a year.

On Mar 9, 5:49*pm, Christopher Nelson wrote:
We had a big thaw around Albany, NY last week and I got out in my
backyard to look around a little at what winter did to the yard. *The
yard is OK but I noticed that half of the nails holding the gutter up
on my 3-season porch are backed out an inch or so. *They are so loose
I can push them back in or grab them and pull them out with my hand.
I can't easily move them -- I'd leave a big hole in the side of lip of
the gutter where the nail used to be -- so I imagine I have to replace
or reinforce them. *I didn't take the gutter down but there doesn't
seem to be any damage to the eaves. I'll replace the front of the
eaves if I must but that seems like overkill. *Any recommendations?

The problem with most gutter nails is that they don't simply set into
the wood as say a 10p nail would. Instead, they are so large that
more often than not, they split the wood and as a result will easily
pull out which is what yours have done. Pounding them back in will
not be a permanent fix and neither will plugging the hole and pounding
them back in. The facia is probably split and won't hold the nail
from now on. The best option is to use screw in brackets to how the
gutter and get rid of those nails. You may need to pull the gutter
down and check the facia to determine how much damage has been done.

Van Chocstraw wrote:
Christopher Nelson wrote:
We had a big thaw around Albany, NY last week and I got out in my
backyard to look around a little at what winter did to the yard. The
yard is OK but I noticed that half of the nails holding the gutter up
on my 3-season porch are backed out an inch or so. They are so loose
I can push them back in or grab them and pull them out with my hand.
I can't easily move them -- I'd leave a big hole in the side of lip of
the gutter where the nail used to be -- so I imagine I have to replace
or reinforce them. I didn't take the gutter down but there doesn't
seem to be any damage to the eaves. I'll replace the front of the
eaves if I must but that seems like overkill. Any recommendations?


Pull them out, pump the hole full of liquid nails, then put them back
in. I never did it, but it sounds good.



Yabut will that stuff take being wet as well as freezing / thawing?

Lou

"LouB" wrote in message
...
Van Chocstraw wrote:
Christopher Nelson wrote:
We had a big thaw around Albany, NY last week and I got out in my
backyard to look around a little at what winter did to the yard. The
yard is OK but I noticed that half of the nails holding the gutter up
on my 3-season porch are backed out an inch or so. They are so loose
I can push them back in or grab them and pull them out with my hand.
I can't easily move them -- I'd leave a big hole in the side of lip of
the gutter where the nail used to be -- so I imagine I have to replace
or reinforce them. I didn't take the gutter down but there doesn't
seem to be any damage to the eaves. I'll replace the front of the
eaves if I must but that seems like overkill. Any recommendations?


Pull them out, pump the hole full of liquid nails, then put them back
in. I never did it, but it sounds good.



Yabut will that stuff take being wet as well as freezing / thawing?

Lou

Replace spikes (nails) with brackets, called hidden hangers in some
locations. The hanger has a hook to attatch to the front of the gutter and
is folded over to fit behind and inside the back of the gutter. Don't worry
about making the fold fit behind the gutter, just hook it on front where
gutter is rolled to the inside and laying against the inside back. Use hex
head screws in hanger through the back of the gutter and into the fascia of
the house. The screws at least an inch long will not work out as easy as
nails but are easy to remove when you have to remove gutter from house.

"LouB" wrote in message
...
Van Chocstraw wrote:
Christopher Nelson wrote:
We had a big thaw around Albany, NY last week and I got out in my
backyard to look around a little at what winter did to the yard. The
yard is OK but I noticed that half of the nails holding the gutter up
on my 3-season porch are backed out an inch or so. They are so loose
I can push them back in or grab them and pull them out with my hand.
I can't easily move them -- I'd leave a big hole in the side of lip of
the gutter where the nail used to be -- so I imagine I have to replace
or reinforce them. I didn't take the gutter down but there doesn't
seem to be any damage to the eaves. I'll replace the front of the
eaves if I must but that seems like overkill. Any recommendations?


Pull them out, pump the hole full of liquid nails, then put them back in.
I never did it, but it sounds good.



Yabut will that stuff take being wet as well as freezing / thawing?

Lou

If you are going to do that, use PL Premium is it a polyurethane which water
in fact activates. I have a rental house with that same problem. I will
use this system to keep the nails in because the holes will look ugly
without the nails and then I will use gutter hangers with the screws to beef
up that area.