I noticed some loose spikes on my aluminum gutters.They have actually pulled away from the gutter. I think I hammered acouple of them in last year when I noticed they had pulled away. #1- can I fix this problem till I need to put a new roof on? bout a couple years maybe #2- Is it safe to put ladder up against the gutter when the spikes are like this? I would like to hold off with new gutters till a new roof is due to be put on. #3 -- What caused this in the first place? Age? Bad work? Wood rotting?
Any help would be greatly apprecaited!!!!

 

Gutter spikes are really meant to be placed on 24" centers so that they can be nailed into the rafter tails. Unfortunately, figuring out exactly where the rafters are is difficult to do unless someone has marked them out in advance. So most often, the gutter spikes just get driven in any old place, which sometimes means they are only driven into the 3/4" fascia boards, which do not provide enough holding power for the spike. As a result, they work their way out when the gutter is full of snow, ice, leaves, etc. Newer houses often have 2x6 subfascia, which provides continuous backing for nailing. Sometimes the gutter spikes will even pull out of that (or out of the rafter tails) When that happens, it's usually a case of water following the spike back and rotting out the wood around the spike. The ferrells are shaped like a spiral pin, and have a seam which should always be positioned so that it points down and will shed (not hold) water.

It is safe to put the ladder against the gutter, provided the ladder is on level ground and you don't mind scratching your gutter up with the ladder. If you're very heavy, the gutter could also dent. But the ferrells (the spiral pin-like bushing which your gutter spike is driven through) should hold the gutter and prevent it from crushing under the weight of the ladder. It's really recommended that you use ladder stand-offs when putting a ladder over a gutter. You likely would not want to lean a ladder against your brand new gutters. If you have to, perhaps you could put some padding behind the ladder, such as a carpet remnant or a rubber door mat.

If it was me, I'd just hammer those spikes back in every now and then until you get the roof replaced. If they really won't hold, maybe you could squirt some silicone or construction adhesive back into the hole before putting the spike into the fascia (as a temporary fix, to keep them from working out again.) When the old gutters are taken down, you will probably be able to see where the fascia has been nailed to the rafter tails. That would be a good time for you to take a magic marker and mark the rafter tails on your drip edge, so that the gutter guys will be able to nail in the correct location.

 

thank you very much for the useful info
I've got a lot to learn and this board is really gonna help me out