Gutter Guards

  Ten years ago - on May 3, 2013 - we had new rain gutters installed at Pinehaven by Michael's Roofing and Siding. Click here for that story. Since then I wish I had had them install gutter guards. We have two maple trees very close to the house and the gutters clog every autumn (and other times, too) with leaves, limbs and other debris. Last year I told Tom "This is it. Never again" as we hauled the heavy Fiberglas ladder around the house and I climbed two stories.

 Back on August  29 I called Michael Umber and asked if he could give me an estimate on gutter guards. He priced the Shur Flo aluminum gutter protection system. I gave him the go-ahead the same day. But getting enough of the guards to do both the house and garage (261') was a challenge. He had to cancel last Friday's appointment and shoot for today. An order was supposed to arrive yesterday.

 Apparently it did. Today (09/19/23) he and two other men came and cleaned out the gutters and installed the gutter guards.

Before - 08/29/23 - Garage

 After - 09/19/23

Kitchen roof

 

House roof - West edge

Nicely mitered corners with overlap

 Hopefully that'll end the need to climb the ladder and clean the gutters. Of course I expect leaves will often gather atop the guards but I'm also hoping that future rains  and winds will clean them off naturally. It'll be interesting to see how snow responds to the guards. I don't expect perfection: I just expect things to be generally easier.

 Michael's Roofing and Siding is available at 937-835-5200.

 Follow up:

11-04-23

 Above shot is of the east side of the garage.

11-04-23

 Above shot is of the west side of the kitchen roof.

 Now  that the leaves have mostly fallen I've hade a chance to see how well the guards work. I've found the leaves - which certainly do collect there - mostly blow off when there's a wind. That's good. But the maple seeds collect there, too, and - so far - they haven't blown off. I'm wondering what that will mean for winter weather? Will snow and ice collect atop the seeds and prevent meltwater from reaching the gutter?

 The jury is still out on this one.

Caramel Apple Dump Cake

  It's fall so apples are on my mind. I recently visited Crossroad Orchard in Miamisburg and bought half a peck of Honeycrisp apples which I turned into Apple Crisp. I found mom's recipe in the book she specially put together for me and it's far better than the commercial recipe I've  been using.

 But this weekend - for our Saturday morning card game - I wanted a different sweet treat. I saw a recipe for an Apple Dump Cake on Facebook and I was intrigued with how easy it was. The "Dump" in the title refers to how easily everything is poured together.

 So I bought two cans of apple pie filling at Meijer and I picked up a squeeze bottle of Hershey's caramel syrup (the kind for ice cream topping) at the Germantown grocery.

 First, here's the recipe.

 I made the cake in a 9x13" metal pan. I baked it for the entire 50 minutes.

 A few notes:

1. The two sticks of butter (I used margarine) seemed excessive but it's not. The dry cake mix needs that much butter to wet it atop the pie filling. Anything you miss stays dry. It's not difficult, though, and I just spread the melted butter direct from a Pyrex measuring cup.

2. The brand of yellow cake mix you chose probably affects the taste of this dessert. I used Pillsbury and it adds a hint of vanilla flavor.

3. I think the chopped pecans are absolutely necessary. They add a nice flavor, of course, but also a crunchy texture.

4. This would be fun to try with other pie fillings as suggested.

 How is it? It's really very good. It's sweet as can be but that's always my goal. It's incredibly easy and I'll bet kids would eat it up.