be pre assembled or assembled on site to match the size of the gutter that it is intended to surround these pieces may be made of any suitable material including metals such as aluminum or steel fig4 a b show one embodiment where a number of separate components are used to create the support structure 170 fig4 a shows an exploded view of one embodiment of the support structure 170 fig4 b shows an assembled version of this embodiment in this embodiment the top horizontal bracket is made up of a top mounted bracket 181 and a top corner bracket 182 both brackets 181 182 have a slot such that a fastener 190 such as a bolt may be placed through the two slots the fastener 190 may be mated with a corresponding nut 191 and an optional washer 192 the fastener 190 is tightened at the position where the overall length of brackets 181 182 as assembled is longer than the gutter that it seeks to surround the bottom horizontal bracket is also made up of two components bottom mounted bracket 185 and bottom corner bracket 186 as described above a fastener 190 may be used to hold these two components together in one embodiment the lengths of the top and bottom assembled brackets.