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Pre-fabricated wood gutters?

| Posted in General Discussion on July 4, 2001 05:14am

*
Hello, I am wondering if anyone knows of a source for pre-fabricated wooden gutters with pre-installed copper lining? I am looking at the cost of installing these the old fashioned way and figuring there must be a less expensive option!

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  1. Mike_Smith | Jul 01, 2001 04:51pm | #1

    *
    horace... i don't know what you mean about pre-fabricated wooden gutter..

    it only comes one way...out of the gutter molding machine.. to the lumber yard...good yards will carry up to about 30' pieces...only certain species and patterns are available in your region..

    you can field splice them with scarf or butt joints for longer lengths...

    none of them come pre-lined.. you need a tin knocker for that....

    b but hey, whadda i no ?

    1. Horace_Vanne | Jul 02, 2001 01:03pm | #2

      *Whadda I know?? My contractor is talking about building a gutter out of wood and then having another contractor line it with copper so it won't rot. The whole thing seems awefully expensive.Maybe the better question is: is there an economical way to do wooden gutters that won't rot?

      1. Mike_Smith | Jul 02, 2001 01:33pm | #3

        *horace....no..both operations are a labor intensive deal..

        1. Jeff_Clarke_ | Jul 02, 2001 01:59pm | #4

          *Horace - the traditional method is to use a highly rot-resistant wood and to oil them frequently - it is an ongoing maintenance item.

          1. Thaddeus_Raven | Jul 02, 2001 06:48pm | #5

            *The old yankee who taught me about annual lynseed application would correct everyone by pointing out that they are not "gutters" but "eave troughs". The milled spruce with ogee front eave trough should be oiled annually; metal cladding, tarring or coating just makes it worse and will always fail because the wood can't breath. The real old timers insist that you never paint an eave trough because nothing prevents water from getting into the wood, you have to make sure it gets out. The eave troughs that are built as a lined "box" into the soffit are elegant but a tin nightmare waiting to leak. I am currently experimenting with a simple rustic style of two cedar 1x6's in an open "V" lined with copper. The brackets are the element I'm still refining. I'm considering tinkering something out of copper as well. Regardless of type buy a good ladder and clean the troughs at least twice a year.

          2. Jon_Blakemore | Jul 03, 2001 08:51am | #6

            *Thaddeus, I've heard that from an old timer also but never got around to asking him why he called them "eve troughs". Could you explain it to me?Jon

          3. Jeff_Clarke_ | Jul 03, 2001 12:58pm | #7

            *Jon - Ever been around a farm? If you've seen an old wooden or cattle trough they look a lot like a wooden gutter, er trough.Jeff

          4. D.G._Bloomer | Jul 03, 2001 02:29pm | #8

            *I Just finished installing 180 lf of cedar gutter it took 100 hours between 2 guys. this was a 12 sided roof with some very complicated compounds. I also removed the gutter that was there very close to 100 years old there was some rot in areas where moisture could not escape. other areas had no rot at all. All the joints on the old gutter had led over them. I will get some pictures to post soon. It looks real good DGB

          5. Thaddeus_Raven | Jul 03, 2001 04:58pm | #9

            *JonNo it's not biblical but thanks for asking as it lets me catch my mistake. It is actually "eaves trough". From, eaves -- the projecting overhang at the lower border of a roof; and, trough -- 1)a long narrow, generally shallow receptacle, especially one for holding water or feed for animals 2)a gutter below the eaves of a roof. Old timers would say eaves trough so there would be no confusion with all the other troughs around. They wouldn't say "gutter" in polite conversation any more than they would say any cuss words. A gutter alongside pre-automobile roads was full of horses**t, sewage and disease. The worst insult you could throw at someone was that they were from the gutter or lying in the gutter. You would never attach a "gutter" to your house. You would dig a "gutter" from your barn to a muck pit.Eaves is always in the plural coming from the old English "efes" probably deriving from the multiple tip ends of the straw in a thatch roof. This gives us the word "eavesdrop", originally a noun refering to the space of ground around a building where water falls from the eaves. An eavesdropper is someone who stood in the eavesdrop to overhear private converations inside the building. Eavesdropping was a criminal offense and gives us the modern verb "to eavesdrop" All the current breaktime strings on wet basements could probably use the original meaning of eavesdrop to better explain the solutions.

          6. piffin_ | Jul 04, 2001 05:14am | #10

            *Horace,I've known wood gutters to be lined with copper at time of re-roofing if it was just starting to show some rot but not yet bad enough to be worth complete replacement. The theory is that a copper lining can make it last for another generation and roof before needing replacement. I agree with the above that this will lock moistur and speed the process of deterioration. A new gutter should be oiled annually with linseed or tung oil, kept clean and will not need the copper. I work on buildings over one hundred years old with the original wood gutters. Condition is directly proportional to the care they have been given during that time. Cypress, heart pine and fir all seem to hold up quite well. I suppose that cedar would too but haven't seen it so used.BTW, I have had good luck with epoxy resins for restoring old ones.

  2. Horace_Vanne | Jul 04, 2001 05:14am | #11

    *
    Hello, I am wondering if anyone knows of a source for pre-fabricated wooden gutters with pre-installed copper lining? I am looking at the cost of installing these the old fashioned way and figuring there must be a less expensive option!

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