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Along the back of my house there is a gutter approximately 20' long. The lower end is coming away from the house. A couple of years ago I replaced several of the old gutter nails with gutter screws. The thread was a bit bigger than the shaft of the nail and most of them took fairly firmly. In a couple of places I had to move the spot it went into the soffit over an inch or so to get it to take. Now most of those screws are lose.

I fear that behind the aluminum cladding, the wood I'm attaching too is rotted but there is no other sign of water damage. Assuming I have something to attach to, what are my options? Bigger screws? Move the screws again?

Chris Nelson
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  • Perhaps gutter hangers (http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/744/how-do-i-fix-gutter-nails-that-are-coming-out?rq=1) are the answer. I don't know why that question didn't come up when I started this one. – Chris Nelson Jun 14 '14 at 14:21
  • You were using screws and not hangers? Long screws out just little ones into the side? – rogerdpack Oct 28 '23 at 15:13

2 Answers2

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Sounds like your fascias under your cladding are shot... The only way to make this work, which I would not recommend is to line up your screws with the rafter tails and get long enough screws to sink into them.

Jack
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  • Yeah, I fear you are right. :-( – Chris Nelson Jun 15 '14 at 12:28
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    My biggest concern would be why after a number of years the fascias are continuing to degrade? There may be a leak somewhere feeding the rot to allow a secure fastening to come loose. Maybe termites as well... The cladding is a freeway for insects. – Jack Jun 15 '14 at 21:21
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My hypotheses would be either the fascia board is shot (from current or ancient leak), or else there is so much weight in winter that you want to screw high quality hangers into the rafter tails for more strength.

rogerdpack
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