Gutter and downspouts: do you remove?
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I guess it's conceivable that if I were to see it I may have a different opinion, but, in general, that sounds like way too much work to me, and if I did decide that they needed to come off, I would replace the facia boards if necessary, and cover them with aluminum, in order to ensure that I didn't have to do that again.
It would definitely be a help to remove the downspouts, and shouldn't be too difficult, as little as popping some drives or removing some screws. The gutters are a different story, and would depend on what type of gutter and mounting system, what type of design they're mounted to, and how bad the work area is that they are blocking. It probably wouldn't need to be or even be feasible, as some systems would be damaged in removal, like K gutters with spikes and ferrules. Although, especially with half rounds, I've cursed them many times and wished removal was an option. All that said, I have worked jobs where the gutters were removed to paint, because you just couldn't do the job properly with them in place and it cost less to remove and reinstall than to work around them.
On some of the cuties I have worked on in recent years I have always taken the gutters and downspouts off. And since I was near the rooftop I yanked the flashing and weather veins off too. Copper is copper and worth a fortune and I figure my clients would not notice three stories of Victorian missing them for a season or two?
Seriously? Leave them alone unless they need replacement or for some reason you have to get to every square inch behind them. As mentioned, if the facia or whatever is shot you might as well take them down and deal with that. Nice looking, extruded continuous gutters are not that expensive so unless they are antique copper or something. Get them out of the way.
Not kidding, copper gutter and downspout theft from historic structures is a big deal. A lot of churches through the country suffer because they have to abide by landmark status at some point but cannot keep fitting gorgeous 19th century gutters and so forth.
Seriously? Leave them alone unless they need replacement or for some reason you have to get to every square inch behind them. As mentioned, if the facia or whatever is shot you might as well take them down and deal with that. Nice looking, extruded continuous gutters are not that expensive so unless they are antique copper or something. Get them out of the way.
Not kidding, copper gutter and downspout theft from historic structures is a big deal. A lot of churches through the country suffer because they have to abide by landmark status at some point but cannot keep fitting gorgeous 19th century gutters and so forth.
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Depends on if there is wood behind the gutters. If they're clad in aluminum, no sense in taking them off. Maybe if it's exposed wood you could take them off and coat the wood. Problem is, when you take them off, it's a bi*** getting them back up..........you compromise the nail holes and you also have to be sure the pitch is correct to keep the water moving. Normally we do not take them off.
I wanted to add something to my comment. I personally have a lot of background in roofing/siding/gutters. I didn't want to imply that a non-experienced HO attempt to remove a gutter system. Most gutter systems should pose at most a minor inconvience to painting. Some systems, such as half-rounds on older homes, can pose a significant obstacle to painting when there is advanced failure in the eave/fascia area. If, for any reason, a gutter requires removal, it should be done by a professional gutter pro.
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