[Topher3]

Does baskets/strainers used at the top of downspouts to keep them from clogging?

[KISS]

I plan on purchasing the wedge from here:

The Wedge

A friend had a really fine mesh screen that covered the entire gutter that I really liked.

I had something that had 3/8 holes in it, but I ended up cleaning the gutters anyway and I think it's use damaged the roof underlayment which I repaired.

I think a lot depends on the type of trees that you have.

I have oak leaves and the neighbor has the HUGE leaves about twice the size of your hand. I suppose pine needles would be yet another problem. The oak leaves are still around a year later. They can crumble, but not easily, and are very acidic. They caused us to replace a car AC condenser because of corrosion. That's not a fun job. About 8 hours of work. It took me 13 hours to put an AC in from scratch in a car in 83.

The neighbor is using one of the simple versions and I'm sure it might have helped when the gutter got clogged and I had to unclog it in the rain to prevent flooding.

[labman]

I have not had much luck with them. About 20 year sago, I put arched screens of expanded metal over my gutters. They were cheap and easy to install. I have been very happy with them. Although I have some very dirty trees around my house, I mostly only have to clean around the down spouts only once or twice a year, and it isn't much of a job. .

[tkrussell]

What kind of test are you taking. You have been asking some very odd questions? Cable sheathing, radon levels, plumbing traps, now downspouts?

[labman]

Good question? Maybe he just bought a fixer upper. I hope you can't get a license for anything by a take home test. If so, it could explain a lot.

[lc1048]

What is a gambrel?

[speedball1]

what is a gambrel?

What Is a Gambrel Roof?
Although the gambrel roof is popular for certain house styles, most notably Dutch Colonials native to the Hudson River Valley, perhaps it is most familiar capping the barns that dot rural countrysides.

It has a straight ridge like that on a gable roof, but midway down the slope, the planes break downward at a steeper pitch. A gambrel roof is so named because its curved, hip-like shape resembles the contour of a horse’s hind leg, called a hock or gambrel in 17th-century England.


This type of roof utilizes two shorter rafters in place of each single rafter that spans a typical gable roof. This is an advantage where quality rafter material is scarce, but gambrel roofs are slightly more complicated to frame. Their greatest advantage is that they allow maximum living space in the attic or upper-floor level.

[speedball1]

does baskets/strainers used at the top of downspouts to keep them from clogging?

Yes they make a domed roof cap,(see image) that works very well. Good luck, Tom