I need to replace the gutters and downspouts on my house, and I'd like to know the best approach.
The house is 100 year-old clay brick house. The old gutters were aluminum and used downspouts that sat on hooks embedded in the brick (with a series of notches on the back of the downspout), and were held against the house by pressure from the gutters at the top and being sleeved into pipes that run to the sanitary sewer main at the moment (we appear to be grandfathered into the system, but yes I know that's bad).
The gutters were pulled off and damaged by a snow storm, but most of the downspout parts are intact. One of the pipes that runs to the sewer is collapsed so we need to use a different system to remove the water from the base of the house at that corner. I'd rather NOT put new holes in the brick if I don't have to, but all the local home improvement stores seem to see plastic gutter systems that use different mounts (brackets that wrap around the downspout to hold them against the house).
If I look around are there likely to be places that might have parts for aluminum gutters? Is trying to rebuild a system like we had the best idea or should I replace with something different? If I did switch the gutters, is there a gutter system out there that might work with my old brackets so that I don't have to put new holes in the walls?
Best Answer
Is there some particular reason not to put new holes in the bricks? My first inclination is to just drill new holes, and secure the spouts properly - after all, they did come off during a snow storm.
Do you have pictures of the existing mounts? Perhaps there is a way to retrofit something onto the existing hooks but still use a modern downspout.