How To Build A Yankee Gutter

Install a self drilling aluminum roofing screw that pierces and secures the flashing gutter and supporting strap photo 2 and 3.

How to build a yankee gutter.

Yankee gutters are constructed by nailing a 2 6 perpendicular to the roof plane parallel to and a few inches back from the eaves. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva installs an alternative to a gutter when a traditional one does not work. Yankee gutters go back to the 18 th century. They are currently renovating a large lake house that required all new gutters.

Reaching our gutters on the second story of our home required a 28 long extension ladder. There are occasions where water damage occurs and the whole gutter needs to be re built. The earliest examples of yankee gutters employed a combination of wood and metal to construct the body of the system. Set in a bed of caulk the yankee gutter board was set onto and screwed through the copper into the roof deck.

Repair yankee gutters in 5 steps step 1. Sheets of metal were used to line the interior of yankee gutters. House flipping brothers dave and rich show how to install gutters on a house. Yankee gutters are also referred to as philadelphia gutters pole gutters flush gutters and standing gutters.

But that step was just extra insurance. Yankee gutters can be very simple or ornate. Prepping the gutters requires carefully cleaning away any debris. Built in gutters the unseen roof drainage system was specifically chosen to be installed when the home was built thus is part of the original historic character.

I always try to encourage preserving original elements even though it might be easier to eliminate the old method for something new and inexpensive. Each penetration through the copper eaves flashing was sealed by applying a blob of 50 year caulk on the under side of the board or bracket where the screw would penetrate. A cant strip a triangular ripping of wood is attached along the inside bottom of the 2 6. Next patch any.

Also make sure the contractor you choose replaces any dry or rotted wood inside the yankee gutter. Assuming that your roof and flashing are in place insert the rain gutter edge under the roof flashing then insert the j shaped supporting strap under the gutter as seen in photo 1. Lynn and todd swept debris away with a.