Curved Gutters

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Q: I want to replace the leaking curved gutter around the turret in front of the house. But my contractor says nobody makes curved gutters anymore, so it'll have to be fabricated from lots of small, straight segments soldered together. What do you think?

— Luveria, Detroit, MI

A: Tom Silva replies: A feature as prominent as a turret, particularly when it's at the front of a nice house like yours, deserves to be done right. Besides, segmented gutters won't work very well, are prone to leak, and don't look so great, either.

Fortunately, curved gutters — called "radius" gutters in the trade — are still available. In a city the size of yours there's likely to be someone who will fabricate them — I'd even try metal fabricators who work on churches and schools. If you can't find a local source, however, at least two companies in the U.S. can ship radius gutters to you, either in unbroken lengths or in 3-foot sections (OrnaMetals LLC, www.ornametals.com). You have a choice of profiles, too: K-style, box, and half-round.

Specialty products like this are expensive, but this isn't the place to go cheap. If you pay now to do this work properly, you won't have to pay over and over again for repairs down the road. Best of all, your house will look as good as it should.

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