Why not Galvanized Gutter?
Galvanized gutter, to be installed properly, must not only be properly painted, but most have all places where the galvanized coating is disturbed (i.e. cut, screwed or drilled) dressed. This is properly done with solder. It's not possible to dress the gutter where it is fastened to the fascia, so a proper installation would use fascia brackets. These fasten to the painted fascia, the gutter lies in the bracket loose, and a strap is installed above the gutter to prevent the wind from rattling the gutter, or even blowing it off the house! This is the "proper" method, but also very labor intensive and expensive. Usually the way galvanized gutter is installed is with a . The spike is driven through the top face of the gutter, through the ferrule, and out the back of the gutter. The galvanized coating is certainly "disturbed", and it is rarely dressed to prevent rusting. As a matter fact, where it penetrates the back of the gutter is impossible to "dress", as it is flush against the fascia or shingle trim. When moisture contacts this penetration, the underlying steel rusts, and a re rust stain is visible on the lower part of the exposed painted fascia. This moisture need not be from rain.sweating caused by dew will cause this to happen.
The entire inside and outside surfaces of galvanized gutter must be painted. The correct procedure is to (1) pickle, (2) prime, (3) paint. An acid based product is used to pickle the galvanized surface. The mixture is not very kind to painted surfaces such as walls or trim. Next, a primer coat of la lead or zinc oxide based paint is applied to the inside and outside surfaces. The primer must be allowed to cure a few days, and then painted, as the oxide coating will quickly weather. The rain gutter is usually painted to match the trim of the house. In fact, usually the steel is painted NOT with a paint formulated for steel, but the same paint used for wood house trim, and is rarely pickled and primed.
