GUTTERS & DRAINAGE

Because water is arriving faster than the downspouts can carry it away. Overflow is nearly always a downspout capacity problem, and adding one is cheaper and more effective than widening the gutter.

Twenty years or more for seamless aluminium hung on hidden hangers at the right pitch. Sectional gutter joined with sealant needs attention every five to eight years as the sealant fails, which is where most of the shorter lifespans come from.

Start with sizing and downspouts. Most gutter complaints we are called about turn out to be capacity or drainage rather than debris, so that guide resolves the problem more often than the guards one does.

Often. Water running behind a gutter usually means missing drip edge at the roof edge rather than a failed gutter. Ice sitting in the trough all winter points at the attic, not the gutter. We check the roof edge before quoting gutter work.

Yes, and plenty of jobs are gutters only. If the roof is within a couple of years of replacement it is worth waiting, because drip edge, ice barrier and gutter all meet at the eave and doing them together means one crew owns that detail.

Twice a year, with the autumn clean mattering most. A gutter that goes into December packed with wet leaves becomes a block of ice that will not drain again until March.