How To Build A Yankee Gutter

Wood was used as an external element to construct the shell for the gutters while sheets of metal were used to line the interior.

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. There are occasions where water damage occurs and the whole gutter needs to be re built. Reaching our gutters on the second story of our home required a 28 long extension ladder. Yankee gutters can be very simple or ornate.

Ask this old house general contractor tom silva installs an alternative to a gutter when a traditional one does not work. Lynn and todd swept debris away with a. The earliest examples of yankee gutters employed a combination of wood and metal to construct the body of the system. I always try to encourage preserving original elements even though it might be easier to eliminate the old method for something new and inexpensive.

Set in a bed of caulk the yankee gutter board was set onto and screwed through the copper into the roof deck. Subscribe to this old house. Sheets of metal were used to line the interior of yankee gutters. Yankee gutters are also referred to as philadelphia gutters pole gutters flush gutters and standing gutters.

Yankee gutters go back to the 18 th century. 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. 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. Yankee gutters are constructed by nailing a 2 6 perpendicular to the roof plane parallel to and a few inches back from the eaves.

Next patch any. These gutters are built on the plane of the roof. But that step was just extra insurance. Repair yankee gutters in 5 steps step 1.

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. Prepping the gutters requires carefully cleaning away any debris.