So, since L and T both happen to be at home this week—L took an extra week’s vacation after the Saint Paul AG—I’ve had some extra help for working on some home-improvement projects I’ve been meaning to get to for-absolutely-EVER. Yesterday and today was Hanging the Gutters.
Yesterday L and I got out and glued slip joints onto a couple of sections of guttering and went away to let ’em dry. Today we all climbed up there with an assortment of tools, and while L and T watched, I riveted the slip joints into place because the adhesive supplied with them, while fairly good at sealing against water, doesn’t do shit toward actually fastening things together. After that, we took a twenty-foot section of guttering and they held it in place while I quickly set two or three brackets to hold the thing up temporarily. After that L took the variable-speed drill away from me and finished driving the bracket spikes while I pulled together and riveted the pieces for the downspout and endcap, and L and T washed some old leaves and gunk out of the guttering that’s already up. I got to make a fine horrible noise a couple of times when I used the Skilsaw to cut a couple of short lengths of guttering to fit. They went away and I finished putting up the bits and pieces, and now I only have one more slip joint to fit into place and I’ll have the gutters up all across the north part of the addition, and can assemble the downspouts . . . only two years after I started into this project.
Next problem: to find brackets that will let me hang gutters on the front of the house. The gabled roof has a sumbitch of an overhang, and no brackets I’ve found are long enough to reach back under there so I can attach them to the rafter boxes.
The Pop-Tart avoids Robert McNamara’s high chainsaw. Fnord.
