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economist simtribune saturday nov 16 2002 your roof will appreciate the gutters being cleaned by kathy scott gutters protect your roof from water damage the longer you can put off the expense of a new roof the better if your gutters are clogged with leaves and gunk they are not much use to your roof if you choose to do gutter maintenance only once a year late fall is the best time to do it pick a dry day when the trees are fairly bare grab your ladder a bucket a garden hose paper towels and a whiskbroom get ready to some hard but definitely worthwhile labour note there are also many companies in york region that will perform this nec essary but hard task for you check the service directory in your newspaper it is always safer to use a lad der when cleaning gutters rather than trying to kneel on your roof it may be somewhat timecon suming to climb up and down to move the ladder but it is most assuredly better than falling off the roof you should lean your ladder against a securely anchored area of the gutter the top of the ladder should extend about 12 inches above the gutter the foot of the ladder should be set away from the house a distance equal to one- forth the length of the ladder for instance if the ladder is 12 feet high the base of the lad der should be three feet away from the house after you have your ladder in place you can begin cleaning the gutter you should probably plan on working about three feet of the gutter at a time first put your tools in your bucket and make sure that you have a hook on your bucket so you can hang it onto the ladder then start cleaning at a cor ner near a downspout plug the downspout with some paper tow els so that the leaves and dirt dont run down the spout scrape away from the downspout and put the debris into the bucket place your tools on the roof climb down the ladder empty the bucket move the ladder over and repeat the process until you have an entire section of gutter cleaned then unplug the down spout and rinse out the gutter with your garden hose if your down spout is clogged use a plumbers snake or drain auger to clear it start from the ground end of the downspout and go up if your downspout goes underground start from the top and go down before you put away the lad der inspect the slop of the gutter the gutter should slope down ward about 14 of an inch for every 10 feet reattach any fallen gutter sections and replace bro ken hangers next install leaf guards metal mesh guards are often used but they are more likely to trap leaves and debris you can try aluminum or plastic strips if you wish they should curl down about 14 of an inch away from the outer edge of the gutter water will flow off the curled edge while leaves and twigs will fall to the ground repair to the gutters is essen tial and can be easily managed during the cool days of late fall joints that are loose should be caulked if you can take the joints apart caulk and reassemble if you cannot fake them apart just clean them caulk and smooth out the caulk so the edges dont chan nel water back into the damaged joint use mineral spirits to keep your finger or putty knife from sticking to the caulk be sure that you dont seal the expansion joints that are usually found at the corners of the guttering metal gutters can be repaired fairly easily first clean the area with a metal brush then smooth on a layer of roofing cement inside the gutter add a layer of heavyduty foil then another layer of roofing cement a layer of the foil and finally a layer of roof ing cement wooden gutters should be kept clean and painted every five years of so sand the troughs apply wood preservative sealer or roofing cement thinned with turpentine put on a second coat a couple of days later you will then be ready to sand and paint the outer part of the gutter with two coats of exterior house paint your gutters will soon be ready for winter you can rest assured that your roof and your pocketbook will appreciate the hard work youve done thel arthritis societyi tomorrows gift whether its a bequest a gift of life insurance or a charitable annuity you can plan jo ensure continuing support for arthritis research nearly four millioil canadians who have arthritis are counting on you for more information about our planned giving program contact the arthritis society give to hope richmond this message brought to you as a community service of the economist sun vfdtex armstrong hmawington quality service value vist our showroom hi 5 gift ceificate please present at time of purchase towards the purchase ofbroadloovhvinylor laminate inin 65 sq yd offer expires november 3002 markh am ip 172 bullock dr 90s 4728444 hqurs mon wed thurs fri 9am 8pm tuo 9am 6pm sat 9am 5pm i k rioo 3ihhhhp decor n tif jjflpj 2fwu83 ww m fcw m tafee us home wrap us up for christmas k a warm touch to the houday season with perfect gifts and accessories for the home great gift giving ideas for the hostess teacher friends shopping hours mon wed fri 106 thurs 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