Gutter Work

 I detest gutters.  They are expensive to install and reward you by regularly clogging up with leaves, forcing you to risk life and limb while spending hours cleaning  them out.  If you are unlucky they will inflict the final punishment by rusting out, forcing you to begin the cycle again.

Even though the building codes required it, I did not install gutters in any of my building projects, notably the house extension, garage, and carport.  However, the original house had a small section of gutter leading up the front steps to the verandah and a long section running along the entire rear of the house, and I have kept both of these sections.

Note the narrow gap at the uncut far end

Satisfactory Result

The tiled roof was replaced with corrugated steel Colorbond during the recent renovation, and the new guttering was installed afterwards.  The result was an impossibly narrow gap between the end of the sheeting and the outer edge of the guttering, forcing me to use a brake adjustment lever to clean out the gutter as best I could.

A few weeks ago Reg loaned me a high quality hand cutting tool that he used to trim a long section of his roofing to eliminate the same problem.  However, I subsequently became familiar with using an angle grinder to trim the Colorbond sheeting while rebuilding the shed at the top of the property and decided to give that a try, figuring that it would be faster and easier on my hand.

Using an angle grinder at the top of the ladder presented dangers to my hands and eyes but I figured that the gains justified the risks, so I was very scrupulous about wearing gloves and proper safety glasses.

The job took about 90 minutes of careful work but the results were very good.  I can now easily and quickly clean out the gutter.