# New Downspout and Gutters Upgrade and Replacement



## tk3000 (Apr 15, 2016)

Hello Folks, 

In the far away past I installed new gutters in the garage since the old ones were missing in action. And it has being long overdue to install new gutters where whole sections of the gutters are missing, install downspouts whereas old ones are missing, and also upgrade current smaller downspouts to larger ones (replace 2x3 by 3x4). Everything is aluminum, and some of the present gutters went though a process of discoloration (so, I was wondering the if white spray painting would help there). 

First off, I live in an area surrounded by huge trees so there is an abundance of leaves on Fall. So the current small downspouts get clogged very often, thus to help reduce clogs I went ahead and install a larger downspout as shown below:  






(old, smaller, cranky downspout)





(new downspout ready for deployment)





(new larger downspout installed). 

In order to put new one together I used aluminum rivets and self-drilling screws. In spite of being small and having a small inlet, the old downspout had an oval inlet in the gutter that had one size larger than the new overall larger rectangular inlet that I installed for new downspout which then created a little gap that was simply filled with exterior caulk but also was covered by the larger downspout itself.

At the other extreme of the house there is a whole section of gutters that was ripped off a long time ago. So, I trimmed part of it with snippets and dry fit an outside miter to go around the corner.


But the thing about the downspout at this end is that it is going underground as shown below: 






I was wondering if this one is going to the storm water system. Any insights appreciated. 

thks


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## nealtw (Apr 15, 2016)

I would just litely sand and paint, the trick will be matching the white.
It was common to dump downspout water into the perimeter drain but that can leave a lot of water laying around the foundation or under the house so diverting it to the yard is a better idea.


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## VanMark (Apr 16, 2016)

You can snake drain and see how far it goes or run water into it to see if it overflows.Being in Ohio you must get frost and this sort of set up is bound to freeze up.There are divertors availabe that you can divert the water on the ground in fall winter and turn it to run into drain for spring
The bust gutter protection I found was Alurex . In Canada they call it Gutter Clean. Its aluminum with round holes.If the leaves pile up on top of it they will generally blow off or if not its easy to clean yourself.


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## tk3000 (Apr 16, 2016)

nealtw said:


> I would just litely sand and paint, the trick will be matching the white.
> It was common to dump downspout water into the perimeter drain but that can leave a lot of water laying around the foundation or under the house so diverting it to the yard is a better idea.



Some of the old gutters suffered quite a bit of discoloration, but I wish to have the same color and tone of the new ones. Don't they sell a spray paint that is a perfect match for white in new aluminum gutters? There are so many variation of white... 

That is the only downspout that goes underground. Maybe they did that also because the slope of the land there is rather low. I believe it should be about 2" for each 2' for at least 10' from the foundation. 

It is funny, this house has a sump pump but there is never any water there. The only time I saw some water about 1/4 of the well capacity was when all the snow did melt down at once. 

thks!


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## tk3000 (Apr 16, 2016)

VanMark said:


> You can snake drain and see how far it goes or run water into it to see if it overflows.Being in Ohio you must get frost and this sort of set up is bound to freeze up.There are divertors availabe that you can divert the water on the ground in fall winter and turn it to run into drain for spring
> The bust gutter protection I found was Alurex . In Canada they call it Gutter Clean. Its aluminum with round holes.If the leaves pile up on top of it they will generally blow off or if not its easy to clean yourself.



Yep, that is a good idea; I will snake the line to see how far it goes and what route it takes. 

I realize that a larger downspout it is not a solution for tons of leaves in the gutters it does help a lot. I also have some screens (gutter protection) that I sill have to install. Is it necessary to install these gutter protection in all gutters? 


thks!


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## VanMark (Apr 16, 2016)

What type of gutter protection is it? If the gutters are all joined together then it is best to do them all otherwise leaves will get in from exposed ends. There are alot of different shades of white but you should be able to find something close


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## tk3000 (Jun 19, 2016)

VanMark said:


> What type of gutter protection is it? If the gutters are all joined together then it is best to do them all otherwise leaves will get in from exposed ends. There are a lot of different shades of white but you should be able to find something close



Sorry for having abandoned the thread for such long time... 

Well, I have two types of gutter protection: one is a 4" grid that snaps ins, and another is a spongy type of material. I have just small amounts to test and see how it works out. 

Besides the portions of the gutters and downspout shown in my last posts pics there were parts of the house that lacks gutters, so I installed new aluminum gutters and a larger downspout in that side. Since it was a solo work it took some time.

Used aluminum rivets for most part, and in some downspouts sheetmetal screws sparsely. Pics depicting new gutters install process: 











There is one section that I left a gap, as shown below: 






I left it that way for two reasons: in the future I will replace the upper portion of the siding on the all season room, and there will gutter hanging on the all season room too that will overlap the lower gutters from above.


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