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How to Fix Gutter Slopes and Other Common Gutter Problems
Maintaining gutters is the most important thing you can do to prevent water damage to your home!
You can unclog your own gutters if you’re comfortable on a ladder, don’t mind getting wet and dirty, and don’t have an extremely tall house. After you’ve cleared the muck, flush them with a garden hose to make sure they’re flowing properly. If you’d prefer, you can hire someone to do the job for you.
Another option for dealing with chronically clogged gutters is to outfit them with gutter covers. These include mesh screens, clip-on grates, and porous foam. They still need regular maintenance, though, and the cost can be more than the gutters themselves.
Sagging Gutters and Gutters Pulling Away from the House
This is usually a problem with the hangers, the hardware that secures the gutters to the fascia. They might have deteriorated over time, the fasteners may have backed out of the wood or they are spaced too far apart to support the weight of full gutters. The cost to fix sagging gutters yourself is cheap. Hangers generally cost $10 or less apiece and the fasteners run about $1 each.
Leaks and Holes
Leaky gutter joints can be sealed by caulking the joint from the inside with gutter sealant. Very small holes can be filled with gutter sealant. Larger holes will require a patch. Call a Pro to make sure this is done correctly!
Improperly Pitched Gutters
Gutters need to be pitched toward the downspouts for the water to flow properly. You want at least a quarter inch of slope for every 10 feet. Get on a ladder after a rainstorm and look in the gutter. If there’s standing water, it’s not pitched properly! Call a Pro to correct this problem.
Downspouts Draining Too Close to the Foundation
Downspouts need to extend several feet from the house or they will dump right into the basement. Gutter extensions attached to the bottom of the downspout will discharge water well beyond the foundation. Call a Pro to install new downspouts!
Missing Gutters
If your house has no gutters at all, consider investing in a system. The cost depends on the material. Most residential gutters are aluminum, which is lightweight and durable. Unless an aluminum gutter is damaged by something, it will last a long time. Vinyl, galvanized steel, and copper also are available options.
Don’t forget to check out your Fascia as well!
Fascia related problems with gutters usually happen on older homes. The board is usually made of wood, and it tends to rot. This happens due to excessive moisture exposure from rain, snow and ice dams that accumulate in the gutters, as well as roof leaks. In many cases, homeowners and/or contractors cover these wood boards with flat stock aluminum coil to reduce moisture exposure, make things look pretty and at a lower cost. However, more often than not, water DOES get behind protective metal trim and the wood begins to rot.
If the decay is already there and you attach a new gutter to the compromised board, it will start to fall off very soon. I n the end, sooner rather than later, you will need to replace your gutters once again.
How to avoid issues with roof fascia
Whether you will install gutters by yourself, or hire a pro, here is what needs to be done:
1) Check to see if fascia is rotted.
2) Check for damaged boards behind the metal trim.
3) Replace rotted fascia, preferably with AZEK board or other PVC trim boards.
Pro Tip: it is important to caution that if you hire a cheap contractor, he may either not want to bother fixing rotted fascia, or not know how to do this correctly. So to avoid dealing with this, he will simply NOT tell you that it is there.
Thus, if you need to spend a few thousand dollars to install new gutters, you might as well spend a few more hundred to hire a real pro, who will not screw up the job!
FAMILY ROOFING – A TRUSTED NAME IN WASHINGTON, DC FOR THREE GENERATIONS! EXPERTS IN SLATE * METAL * RUBBER * SHINGLE * GUTTER & DOWNSPOUTS!!
Leaky gutter joints can be sealed by caulking the joint from the inside with gutter sealant. Very small holes can be filled with gutter sealant. Larger holes will require a patch. Call a Pro to make sure this is done correctly!
