Plugged chimney cap

[weatherguy]

Exactly. When my stove was installed 6 years ago, my installer told me that I should remove the screen because it would clog up. And it did, a little, but only because I had to use rather moist wood and hadn't quite got the hang of the stove. After the first year, I have had absolutely no buildup at all on my screen, even a little. It's there for a purpose, and other opinions notwithstanding, if you do things right, there should be no problem.

I will say, I'm not experienced with cat stoves and they do burn cooler, so maybe that could be an exception sometimes, but otherwise, if you are getting a buildup on the screen, it's probably due to some kind of operational issue IMO.

It's a controversial subject that comes up frequently here, but my opinion is to leave the screen alone and figure out why it's clogging. It really shouldn't.

The cat stove I had plugged up every year and burned dry, well seasoned wood, I burned wood seasoned 4 years and was 16% and it still plugged. I just went up halfway through the season and cleaned until I changed stoves. New stove never plugs.

 

[Sprinter]

I have 24” overhangs and always set the ladder against the gutter. It never gets crushed or dented. I want the ladder to stick up above the gutter line so that I can maneuver from the roof onto the rungs. I hate heights.

I'm always amazed at how much abuse a gutter can take sometimes. In my volunteer firefighter days, we always extended about three ft for safety. You really need that. I don't think we ever damaged a roof or gutter (or fell off either!)

 

[TechWrench]

You can buy stabilizers for ladders that put the pressure on the roof and not your gutters. I personally don't have this problem as my gutters are metal
https://www.guttersupply.com/p-gutter-tools-ladder-max-ladder-stabilizer.gstml

I agree. I use one and have rubber 'feet' on the ends so as not to mar the roof or siding. If you rest it on the roof above the gutters, it keeps the ladder away from any gutters, and helps to keep it in place when climbing up and down. If you use it against a wall, it helps to stabilize the ladder against the wall so it is much less likely to move sideways on you. It easily clamps to any ladder, and is easy to move from one to another, so only one is usually necessary for any different size ladders you may own. I almost never use a ladder against the house without it any more.