Brisk winds broke a branch free from high overhead and sent it plummeting earthward. It pierced the gutter guard over the center of the downspout, then flipped over, bending the guard at the point of penetration, and landed on the driveway below. The upper left photo shows the bent guard and gutter along with the offending branch. The upper right two photos show the hole poked in the gutter guard by the branch.
I decided that I might as well try to straighten things out and attempt to reassemble the mess since I couldn’t possibly make things worse. I ignored the laughter of the gods after one or them could be heard saying: “Wanna bet?”
With pliers and a screwdriver, I carefully pushed the torn flaps of metal back in place to close the hole and then, one step at at time, straightened the guard as seen on the lower left photos. With some mild effort, the bends of the gutter also returned to serviceable shape. There were some tears in the metal where the downspout connects, but a little duct tape took care of that for the time being, and the gutter guard is nicely back in place. That should do for now until we can find someone who actually knows what they are doing to make further repairs.
PS–Good thing it all went back together; we got 3.5 inches of rain last night!
#gutter #treebranch #gutterguard
Eskildoodle Photos and Feelings 