Flooding is an ever-present threat to American homeowners. Approximately 15 million homes are at risk of flooding, which is 70% higher than FEMA estimates.
While you can’t control the weather, you can build up your defenses to reduce the risk of water damage. Your gutters are crucial for directing rainfall away from your home’s foundations and landscaping, but what if you have an angled fascia board?
Hanging gutters on an angled fascia is notoriously tricky and a job that a professional should carry out. This guide will show you how the process works.
What are Gutter Wedges for Angled Fascia?
The chances are that if you have an angled fascia, you’re living in a newer home.
In this case, installing gutters to direct the water away from your roof is tricky. That’s why professionals use angled gutter brackets for a proper installation.
Gutter wedges, or gutter shims, are designed to support and stabilize the back of the gutter, which is crucial to hanging gutters on an angled fascia.
Like conventional gutter brackets, you’ll need to select the correct type to ensure your gutters perform their jobs for years to come. Some of the gutter hangers for angled fascia you’ll find on the market include:
5” and 6” wedges
3-12 to 4-12 pitch wedges
20-45-degree sloping wedges
Unless you’re a professional or have prior industry experience installing gutters on an angled fascia, how do you know which is the right one?
That is precisely why we always recommend hiring a professional because the wrong bracket can cause water damage, premature replacement, and a system that doesn’t perform correctly.
The dollar costs can be immense, with water and freezing damage being the third most common homeowners’ insurance claim. And here’s the kicker. If your insurer discovered you installed them and used the wrong bracket, it could impact any future claim.
How to Install Gutters on Angled Fascia
Professionals install most rain gutters — for a good reason. While the process may seem simple, only a professional has the experience and know-how to adequately adjust and position your gutters to maximize their benefits.
If you’re wondering how the process works for hanging gutters on an angled fascia, here’s a simplified version of what it looks like.
Step One – Snap Layout Lines
Begin by marking the highest point of your guttering against the fascia. The mark should be at the highest point underneath the drip edge.
Move to the downspout location and measure the lower end of the gutter run. Remember, the slope should be 0.5 inches for every 10 feet of guttering.
That is also an excellent time to check your fascia for signs of rot. If your fascia shows damage, you’ll need to repair it first.
Step Two – Attach Gutter Brackets for Angled Fascia
Angled fascia gutter wedges are made of aluminum. The standard approach is to use metal angled fascia gutter brackets that attach to the back of the gutter before the installation.
Ensure the brackets are cut to the correct depth to match the fascia board and avoid angling. If your drain tilts forward or backward, its water-holding capacity will decrease.
Additionally, the wedges may require more depth as the gutter runs toward the downspout since the gap between the fascia board and the trough is increasing.
As you can see, this is where the process becomes far more technical than typical gutter installations.
Step Three – Consider Roof Straps
In some cases, gutter wedges might be out of the question. Use roof straps when a home has a stepped fascia board or the angle is too much to attach a wedge properly.
These straps must be attached to the roofing underlayment and painted to match the house's color. If using straps, never nail them into a roof shingle, or you’ll create a leak.
Step Four – Install the Gutter
As said before the gutter should be installed under the drip edge. The gutter should also slope towards where the downspouts are located. For the most part, downspouts should be located on the corners of your home. However, occasionally will have to be installed towards the middle of your gutters depending on the length of the gutter & layout of your home.
Step Five – Connect the Downspout to the Gutter
Once that’s complete, the final step is connecting the downspout outlet to the gutter. You’ll be using four screws or four pop rivets for this, but first, you’ll need to screw the downspout’s elbow into the outlet tube, which you should see protruding from the gutter.
You’ll need to cut a downspout to fit between this joint and another elbow secured against the house. Feel free to crimp the edges using pliers if they don’t fit perfectly.
Finally, use your pop rivets or screws to fasten the parts together.
Let Gutt-R-Done Handle Gutter Installations
The above guide for hanging gutters on an angled fascia is a significantly simplified version of a highly technical process. If the above sounds like another language, or you’re worried about the dangers of working on a roof, you need a professional gutter installation company.
At Gutt-R-Done, we specialize in hanging state-of-the-art seamless guttering systems for homes old and new. If you need any types of gutters you can rely on for a generation, call our team for your free consultation, and we’ll work on replacing your existing gutters today.