LESLIE: Myrna in Utah has a problem with the gutter system on her money pit. What can we do for you?
MYRNA: Hi. I don’t know if you’ve answered this for someone else but on a very long pipe – they are older pipes but they seem fine – but there’s a big hole in the one and I was wondering if we could just put some epoxy or glue or some way without replacing the whole gutter or do we have to replace the whole gutter?
TOM: Are you talking about the leader, Myrna, or the gutter; the drainpipe off of the gutter or the gutter itself?
MYRNA: The gutter itself.
TOM: How did you get a hole in there? That’s kind of unusual. Did it wear? Is it sort of wear and tear or did something fall through it?
MYRNA: I have no idea.
TOM: Hmm.
MYRNA: You know, because the rest of them are doing fine but …
TOM: Is it an aluminum gutter?
MYRNA: I think they’re steel.
TOM: Yeah, well maybe they’re rusting.
MYRNA: Yeah.
TOM: Well, here’s what you can do. You can get a piece of gutter material; whether it’s steel or aluminum; you can get some asphalt roof cement and, using that as the adhesive – working from the inside – I want you to cover that hole with the piece of gutter material. So you’re going to create a patch here. And then what you’re going to do is you’re going to either use sheet metal screws or rivets to connect those two together. So think of it as sort of sewing a patch on some clothes …
MYRNA: Oh, OK.
TOM: … but you’re doing it from the inside and you’re attaching it using this asphalt roof cement. That will give you a watertight seal or you could use silicone caulk as the sealant as well; that’ll allow you to patch it and cover the hole and have it not leak anymore.
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