Best Way To Cut A Metal Gutter

Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade.

Best way to cut a metal gutter.

You can cut out the larger hole with a tin snips or you could use an oscillating multi tool equipped with a metal cutting blade. Make sure to seal the drop outlet to the gutter with seam sealer. Bend the gutter and cut the bottom. You can bend the gutter slightly to easily make the rest of the cut all the way around to the other side.

Gutter material also can be cut with a chop saw or sabre saw but be sure to wipe the steel filings from the painted surface. Hot metal chips will fly everywhere. Pull the tape measure along the length of metal gutter and mark the length you need to cut the gutter with the carpenter s pencil. Cut to the far corner around the other side being sure to hit your other mark and around the back to the far side of the notch.

Be careful when using metal shears to not cut yourself and hold the gutter steady. Cut metal with your circular saw. Instead of butting parts together and covering the joints with a seam cover as recommended by the manufacturer lap all seams from two to four inches. You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in.

If the tin snips distorts the profile of the gutter just bend it back into shape with needle nose pliers. In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter. Fit the miter saw with a carbide tipped finish blade for cutting through metal but this is the fastest and most efficient tool for cutting through any type of gutter material. Insert the drop outlet in the hole and fasten the new downspout with sheet metal screws.

Discard the scrap pieces. It s much easier to join sections on the ground than to work from the top of a ladder. Beginning where you marked cut all the way down to the bottom side with metal shears. Cut up each corner from your first cut to the next mark with your tin snips.

Proceed to cut down along the side of the aluminum gutter repeat the process to cut down along the other side of the aluminum gutter. Step 2 rest the base of the carpenter s square against the top edge of the metal gutter and align the blade of the square with the pencil mark you placed on the gutter in step 1. Or you can cut around to the bottom side stop flip the gutter over and continue cutting from the other side until you meet the other cut in the middle. Miter saws are the most common tool used for cutting gutters especially metal and plastic gutters.

Cut the front and back sides with tin snips. It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool.