(214) 807-0414Request an assessmentGutter replacement
A gutter is a long, heavy, water-filled channel hung off the edge of a building on fasteners driven into a board that has been out in the weather for decades. Most of what determines whether a new run performs is not the profile on the front. It is the attachment, the corners and the condition of the wood behind it.
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What this covers
The run is formed on site from a coil to the length of the wall, so instead of a joint every few feet the only joints are at corners, outlets and end caps. Those remaining joints are where a system leaks, and reducing their number is the entire argument for forming on site.
A spike driven through the gutter into the fascia works loose as the wood moves and the gutter loads. Hidden hangers screwed into the fascia hold considerably better. Spacing tightens under a valley outlet, along a long run, and anywhere a tree line means the gutter will carry weight it was not designed to carry.
Hanging a new system on soft wood is hanging it on nothing, and the failure shows up as sag within a couple of seasons. Fascia condition is established before anything is ordered. Where it is bad the sequence is carpentry, then paint, then guttering — in that order, because reversing it means doing the gutter twice.
What to know
An inside or outside corner is either a formed box miter or two lengths cut, lapped, riveted and sealed. Either way it is the joint that opens first and it is worth asking which method is being used. A sealed strip miter is normal work; it is also a maintenance point rather than a permanent detail.
Drip edge belongs under the underlayment at the eave, which means installing it properly usually requires the gutter to be off. Guttering before the roof, or roofing without touching the gutter, is how a property ends up with new components either side of a detail that was never corrected.
Profile and size, material and gauge, color, hanger type and spacing, outlet count and position, and every piece of fascia that was replaced underneath. That last one is invisible within a month and it is the entry that explains, years later, why one run has outlasted another.
Choose a starting point
A short, non-diagnostic guide for working out what kind of assessment conversation to prepare for.
Decision support
Four situations, and the sensible next move for each. It does not diagnose a roof, decide insurance coverage, or stand in for somebody looking at the property.
Questions
Sometimes. Removing and refitting a run risks bending it, and older aluminum does not always survive the handling. Condition, age, profile and hanger type decide it, and the decision should be stated in the scope rather than made on the day by whoever is holding the ladder.
Not entirely — the runs are, the corners and outlets are not. What the term means is that there is no joint in the middle of a straight length, which removes the most numerous category of leak. Corners still need to be made well.
Sagging along a run, a gutter pulling away at the top edge, fasteners that have backed out, staining or a soft spot on the board where it is visible, and paint failing from behind rather than from the surface. From the ground, a run that is no longer straight is the most reliable early sign.
Usually, and it is a line worth checking on the quote. Downspouts, elbows, outlets and the brackets holding them wear in a way a formed run does not, and a new gutter feeding an old outlet keeps whatever restriction was already there. It is also the moment to ask whether the number and position of the outlets is right, rather than replacing what was there because that is where the holes already are.
Assessment request
Short, routing-only questions. Nothing here asks you to diagnose the roof yourself.