ELIZABETH CONARD, Wayland

A. A good (wood) gutter man could cut out the section and splice a new one in, but it is a small job and you might have trouble finding someone who would be willing to do it. But you can try this instead: If you took out the decayed section and filled in with boat filler, line that section inside with roofing cement, and press heavy-duty aluminum foil into the cement. Kitchen foil will do, but the heavy-duty stuff, sold in building supply stores, will do better. Then coat the foil with more roofing cement. All things considered, it could last for decades.

Q. I'm putting up a wood gutter, but I am having trouble getting the water to drip into the middle of the gutter, because if it drips too close to the back or front, it could drip behind or in front of the gutter. I know I have to install an extended drip edge to do this but where can I find one?

Also, the rectangular brass striker plate of my storm door latch is worn out. Where can I find a replacement?

J.G., Chelmsford

A. If you can't find an extended drip edge in regular lumber and building supply stores, ask the manufacturer, Lamb & Ritchie of Saugus (call 617-662-8015), where to find one. Or, order one from the Improvements catalog at 1-800-642-2112.

As for the striker plate, you may have to buy a brass latch and use only the striker plate, or replace the entire mechanism. The Renovator's catalog (413-659-2211) carries several.

Q. My copper gutters are leaking because water is flowing over the backs of them because the water is not flowing into the middle of the gutters. I know I need to extend the roof line so the water would flow correctly, but can an extra drip edge be applied to a slate roof, and with copper gutters?

M.J., Newton

A. Yes, an aluminum drip edge can be inserted under the slate. Or, if there is no drip edge there now, the slate roof itself can be extended; only an inch extension is needed. The way to do that is to insert a wide piece of heavyweight copper flashing (as heavyweight as practicable) over the first row of slate, with a little of it tucked under the second row of slate, and extending an inch or so beyond the present edge of slate.

Q. Roof water is running into my gutters too close to the back of the gutter, and the water is overflowing the back of the gutter, running down the fascia and causing lots of problems.

You wrote of a special drip edge that can be installed that will bring the edge of the roof out about an inch, so water will run into the middle of the gutter. What is that special drip edge and where can I buy it?

M.M., Quincy

A. That special drip edge has an extra section that when installed at the edge of the roof, brings the drip edge out about an inch. It takes the place of a 1 x 2 board at the top of the fascia, a common building practice but too often eliminated through ignorance or a desire to save money.

It is manufactured by Lamb & Ritchie, 90 Broadway, Route 1, Saugus, MA 01906, telephone (617) 662-8015, and at at 258 Pine St., Pawtucket, RI 02860, telephone (401) 723-8860.

Q. The wood gutter fell off the front of my house. Replacing it with wood is very expensive; the gutter man said he could put up aluminum but couldn't guarantee against leaks where the aluminum meets the wood. The other gutters are in pretty bad shape.

A.Z., Boston

A. It can be done, with a little imagination. To cover those joints, use a sticky, peel-off asphalt tape backed by foil. An alternative nearly as good is to apply roofing cement, then embed aluminum foil in this cement. Or, take down all the gutters and put up all aluminum. A complete set of aluminum gutters might cost less than replacing just the front with wood.

Q. I see icicles hanging from the eaves of my house, right where the fascia board (where the wood gutter sits) and the soffit (the under part of the roof overhang) meet. Should I take off the gutter to prevent this?

TONY MEMBRINO, Somerville

A. Removing the gutters might help, because those icicles may be forming from water backing up behind the gutter and running down the fascia. On the other hand, with the gutters off, water still might run down the fascia and form icicles. A possibly better solution is to make sure the gutters are clean (they should be cleaned of debris twice a year), and to make sure the water is dripping into the middle of the gutter, not too close to the back or to the front. Too close to the back, and water will indeed back up behind them.

Whatever you do, be thankful that the water is forming icicles; if it weren't, it might go into the soffit and possibly onto the attic floor, where it could soak insulation and leak through the ceiling. The icicles, if they are not too big, are not a hazard. Big icicles, of course, those 4-foot behemoths, are a hazard, acting like spears should they fall on unsuspecting passersby and animals.

Q. I'm tired of my old wood gutters that are in bad shape, and I'd like to get rid of them. The ground slopes down from the house on all four sides, so there should be no problem with water running down the sides of the fieldstone foundation. Should I try to waterproof the foundation first? Can I dig a shallow trench around the house and fill it with crushed stone for a neat appearance and a good place for water to drip into? I could put polyethylene at the bottom of the trench so water would not soak into the ground near the foundation.

G.F., Jamaica Plain

A. You can do anything you like, and most of the things you plan to do would be just fine. Taking off the gutters will solve more problems than leaving them would cause. And since the ground slopes down from the house, I don't think any problems will occur, just as long as you have a reasonable roof overhang, of at least 4 inches; there is no limit to its depth. With enough overhang, water will drip over the edge of the roof and land on the ground and, if the slope is relatively gentle, will not erode the soil or grass.

One thing you should not do, in my opinion: Do not dig a trench and put crushed stone in it. Even with poly lining the trench, you could get water running down the side of the foundation, and since it is a fieldstone foundation, water could go into the basement more easily.

So, instead of a trench, make an apron of concrete (it's more work but will work better) against the foundation, 6 inches deep and 18 inches wide. Slope it just a tad and you will have an effective splash block for that dripping water. If the siding is high enough off the ground (8 to 18 inches, say) there will be no splashing of water on the siding.

The Handyman has a similar situation, although he had a 6-inch overhang and no gutters at all. He installed an apron similar to the one described above, and it has worked very well for 25 years or more, and is still working well. Such a setup could work for you, too.

Q. I bought some gutter guards that are hinged at the front of the gutter and lie loosely on the shingles. They just flopped over in the wind. Needless to say, I took them off, but is there a better way to install gutter guards?

R.L., Mewton

A. If the guard is designed to lie on top of the shingles without any kind of fastening, there may be something fishy about the design. Any gutter guard worth its salt should be secured at the front and back of the gutter; if it is secured to the shingles, it should go under the shingles. My only suggestion is to check the manufacturer of those weird guards to see if they can be secured better. If not, go back to the drawing board and get another type of guard.

Q. I had new aluminum gutters put up 13 years ago, with a glue compound in the connectors (the joints where the sections come together). Last spring I had a new roof installed, and the roofer installed gutter guards. Now four of the connectors are leaking so much that hardly any water comes down the downspouts. Can I caulk those connectors to stop the leaks?

FRANK McLEAN, Wilmington

A. You must have one humongous leak for little water to go down the downspouts, but the leaks are not due to the gutter guards or the roofing project. Your first priority is to make sure the spouts are open. After 13 years, the compound at the connectors has worn out. For the leaking joints, just caulking them won't work. You have to take apart the sections, apply gutter compound and reassemble them.

There might be another way without taking the gutters apart. Cover the joints with Flashband, a peel-off asphalt tape backed by foil.

Q. The only gutter I have on the house is at the rear. It is 15 feet long and has a downspout only at one end. Water tends to flow toward the end with no downspout; but that end is open and it becomes a waterfall. What's wrong and what can I do?

A.C., Massachusetts

A. Two things are wrong: The gutter is sloping in the wrong direction and there is no end block to prevent that waterfall. One thing is right, though; one downspout is enough. Actually, the informal rule on downspouts is that there should be one downspout for each 30 feet of gutter.

Anyway, you can block that open end, and reslope the gutter so that it slopes toward the downspout. Your gutter was either installed wrong or became loose and drooped, sagged, or slanted the wrong away. And while a level gutter will drain, a sagging one (say, sagging in the middle) or one sloping in the wrong direction obviously will not.

Q. I'm putting up new wood gutters to replace the wood gutters I have now that are installed on spaced blocks. Some experts say to use the blocks, others say not to use them. Some say to use screws, not nails. And some say not to use any one piece more than 30 feet long. Now I'm really confused. Who's right, who's wrong or does it matter?

B.E., Newton

A. Let's give a typical answer from a contractor: Well, hard to say at this time. Some are right, some are wrong, and it does matter. Maybe.

Your main problem is that the people who told you those things gave no reason for the answer.

So, here are the right reasons: Blocks are often put behind wood gutters to set them away from the facia to allow drainage in case of an overflow. Another, better reason is that the blocks bring the gutter out to the correct position to allow water dripping over the roof edge to drip into the middle of the gutter because if the drip is too close to the back of the gutter it could overflow the back; too close to the front of the gutter and it could overflow the front. So, if your original gutters worked well (no overflows), then the new gutter should go on blocks.

Screws will hold better, if the wood on which the gutters are secured is sound; if you use screws, use brass or hot-dipped zinc galvanized screws. But this is not important since your old gutters were probably nailed and lasted until now.

A 30-foot length of gutter is very heavy, and the rule was probably made to limit the efforts of the installers. Also, an extra long gutter might bend and sag during installation, and a sagging gutter won't drain. It might also be a misinterpretation of the rule, which says there should be one downspout for every 30 feet of gutter.

Q. I live in a ranch house with slab on grade. The original aluminum gutters have deteriorated badly, and I was wondering if I could take them down and have no gutters at all? The roof overhang is about 18 inches.

TOM BITTELARI, Framingham

A. Your situation, with a concrete floor directly on the ground, with no basement or crawl space, is ideal for no gutters. With no gutters you might create a drip line on the ground where the water runs off the roof, but this can be handled with a trench of crushed stone or even an apron made of concrete or patio blocks, which you say you already have.

Gutters are designed to prevent runoff water from dripping into the ground, down the foundation, and into the basement. If they do that, fine. With no basement or crawl space, there is simply no need for gutters. The same goes for the garage. The handyman has received critical letters from roofers for his statements on gutters, but he will stick to his guns. There simply is no need for gutters in many situations.

Places a gutter may be needed is on an eave above an entrance, or on an eave above a garage door. Gutters here will keep water from cascading down your neck when you're at the entry or trying to get into the garage.

Q. I have to replace my copper gutters. One gutter man said to use copper because aluminum gutters are no good. Another said that copper and aluminum will last equally long. What should I do?

C.S., Newton

A. Aluminum gutters are pefectly good, and can last as long, perhaps longer than copper. But copper is elegant and good-looking, long-lasting, and horrendously expensive. If you can afford copper, use it, because it is more in keeping with the style of the house; there are a lot of mini-mansions in Newton that are very nice looking and sturdy, but most have copper gutters and downspouts, and slate roofs, both of which are expensive.