How to Install Gutter Covers

Gutters are a brilliant invention when you think about it: a trough that runs around the edges of your roof to catch and channel rainwater so it's not dripping freely all over the perimeter. Another brilliant invention is the gutter cover, which goes over the open top of the gutter, letting in water but preventing leaves and other debris from accumulating and clogging it up. They come in all kinds of materials and designs. This plan is for metal screens that are sold in three- or four-foot lengths and clip onto the edges of the gutters.

Things You'll Need

• Exterior house ladder Heavy rubber dishwashing gloves Small garden trowel Metal gutter screen in three- or four-foot lengths, enough to cover the length of the gutters with some overlap. Tin snips

Instructions

1. Set your ladder up against the house, just under the gutter. With your rubber gloves and gardening trowel, climb up.

2. Thoroughly clean the gutter of all leaves and debris. Scoop out what you can with your rubber-gloved hands, and use the trowel as needed.

3. Take the trowel down to the ground and go back up the ladder with an armful of gutter-screen lengths and your tin snips.

4. Working from one end of the gutter, lay the first length of gutter screen along the top of the gutter, looking for obstructions such as nail heads or gutter brackets. With the tin-snips, clip away from the screen wherever you have to so it will lie flat over the top of the gutter.

5. Tuck the back end of the width of the gutter screen under the last row of roofing shingles. Affix the front end to the front edge of the gutter according to the instructions that came with the screens. (They will likely either clip over the front of the gutter, or just inside it.) Lay the next screen to overlap a little with the first one. Repeat until the whole length of the gutter is covered.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use caution when working on a ladder.

References

• Install gutter guards