Gutter Repair in Los Angeles, CA

Local know-how

Gutters in a city that gets most of its rain in a few storms

Los Angeles averages only around 14 to 15 inches of rain a year, and nearly all of it falls between November and March. That pattern is what catches gutters out. Months of dry weather let palm fronds, eucalyptus leaves, jacaranda blossom and sycamore leaves build up untouched, then an atmospheric river drops two or three inches in a day and the whole season's debris tries to leave through one downspout at once.

Plenty of Los Angeles homes have no gutters at all, or only a short run over the front door. Where gutters do exist, the usual faults are sealant that has dried and cracked in the sun, end caps that have opened up, and downspouts that dump water straight against stucco or a slab foundation. Spanish-style clay tile roofs add their own problem: the tile overhang can sit past the gutter lip, so runoff overshoots in heavy rain unless the gutter is set and sized correctly for the tile.

Hillside homes in the canyons and foothills need more thought about where the water goes than about the gutter itself. Discharging a full roof's runoff onto a slope above a retaining wall or a neighbor's lot is how erosion starts. In brush and wildfire areas, metal gutter guards are preferable to plastic, because dry leaves in an open gutter are exactly where wind-blown embers land. The best time for Los Angeles gutter cleaning is October, after the summer drop and before the first storm.

Most Los Angeles gutters that fail do so at the ends and outlets rather than along the run. Sealant at end caps and outlet tubes dries out after a few summers, and the joint opens. Resealing those points, adding a downspout where a long run drains to a single outlet, and directing the water to a planted area or a dry well instead of the driveway solves most problems. Rain barrels are also popular, but they fill in minutes in a big storm, so the overflow needs somewhere sensible to go.

Craftsman homes in Pasadena, Highland Park and Echo Park

Northeast Los Angeles and nearby Pasadena have one of the largest collections of Craftsman bungalows in the country, many in Highland Park, Mount Washington, Echo Park and Garvanza. Their wide eaves, exposed rafter tails and decorative brackets were often built without gutters, and later additions were sometimes nailed straight into the rafter ends. Where gutters are added now, brackets that clamp to the rafter tails or a narrow fascia added behind them protect the woodwork. Several of these areas are Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, where exterior changes need review.

The San Fernando Valley

The Valley, from Van Nuys and Reseda to Sherman Oaks and Northridge, has tens of thousands of post-war ranch homes with low-pitched roofs and partial gutters. Summers are hotter and drier than the coast, and sealant fails faster. The 1994 Northridge earthquake led to many rebuilt homes, and their gutters are now thirty years old. Sycamores and ficus along Valley streets drop leaves and fruit into gutters.

Westside and the beach cities

Santa Monica, Venice, Mar Vista and the beach cities to the south face salt air and marine fog that keep surfaces damp. Steel gutters and fasteners rust quickly there, and aluminum or copper with stainless hardware lasts longer. Many homes are close to their neighbors, so downspouts must drain to the street or into the yard rather than onto the next lot.

Mudslides and burn scars

After wildfires, hillsides lose the vegetation that holds soil, and winter rain can send mud and debris flows into neighborhoods below. Homes near recent burn areas, from Malibu to the San Gabriel foothills, should keep gutters and drains clear and route roof water away from slopes. Local agencies issue guidance before each rainy season for burn-scar areas.

South LA, Inglewood and the Harbor area

South Los Angeles, Inglewood and the Harbor area have many 1920s to 1950s bungalows and stucco homes with flat or low-pitched roofs, scuppers and partial gutters. Water from scuppers often lands on driveways that slope toward the garage, so leading it to the street matters.

Long Beach and the South Bay

Long Beach's Bluff Park, Belmont Heights and California Heights have 1920s Spanish and Craftsman homes, while Torrance, Redondo and the South Bay have post-war tract homes near the coast. Salt fog and onshore wind shorten the life of steel parts, and many owners replace rusted downspouts with aluminum.

Debris flow risk below a burn scar

On hillside lots below a recent burn area, the local concern is not the gutter but what a storm does to the slope above it. Roof water added to hillside runoff at the wrong point can cut into already unstable ground, so discharge well away from any cut bank and never over the top of one.

Local guidance

What to check yourself before calling anyone in Los Angeles

You can diagnose most of it from the ground. After rain stops, look along the gutter line: if water is still sitting in the trough an hour later, the run has lost its fall and no amount of cleaning will fix that.

Next, run a hose into the gutter and watch the bottom of each downspout. A strong flow means the system is clear; a trickle or nothing means the blockage is below the outlet, often in the elbow or a buried line.

Finally, look at the fascia board behind and below the gutter. Dark staining, flaking paint or a visibly swollen board means water has been getting where it should not, and that needs dealing with before anything is re-fastened to it.