Gutter Repair in Akron, OH

Local know-how

Hills, old rubber-town houses and Cuyahoga Valley trees in Akron

Akron averages around 40 inches of precipitation and close to 50 inches of snow a year. It sits far enough from Lake Erie to miss the heaviest lake-effect bands, but winters still bring long freezes broken by thaws, and the freeze-thaw cycle is hard on gutter seams and hangers. Spring and autumn are wet, and summer thunderstorms can be heavy.

The city's housing tells the story of the rubber industry. Goodyear Heights and Firestone Park were built as planned neighborhoods for factory workers in the 1910s and 1920s, and their rows of bungalows and colonials still stand on hilly streets. Highland Square, West Akron and the area around Stan Hywet have larger older homes, some with slate roofs and built-in gutters.

Akron is hilly. Many homes sit on slopes with tall downhill walls and long downspout drops, and water released at the top of a yard runs toward the house below. Gutter repair here often involves moving downspouts and extending discharge as much as fixing the gutters.

Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Hudson, Fairlawn and Tallmadge have more suburban housing under mature oaks and maples, and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to the north means heavy tree cover on many lots. Autumn leaves are the main cleaning season across the area.

Gutter guards in Akron

With tall oaks and maples over many homes, gutter guards are a common request. Fine stainless mesh guards keep out leaves, maple seeds and shingle grit, and they shed snow better than screens that sag. Plastic guards crack in cold winters and are a poor match for Ohio.

Guards cut cleaning but do not end it. Plan on a check each spring, and make sure the guard can be lifted for service without breaking the shingle seal. The gutter guard types guide compares mesh, screen and surface tension designs.

Goodyear Heights and Firestone Park

These company-built neighborhoods have small lots, narrow side yards and homes close together. Downspouts that empty into a side yard often run toward the neighbor's basement. Moving them to front or back corners, or piping them to the street, keeps water out of both houses.

Many homes here still have original wood fascia under aluminum wrap. Water gets behind the wrap and rots the board unseen, so lift a corner before hanging new gutters.

Akron's sewer project and downspouts

Akron has spent years on Akron Waterways Renewed, a large program to cut sewer overflows into the Cuyahoga River and the Ohio and Erie Canal, including a deep storage tunnel under downtown. Older homes in parts of the city have downspouts piped into the sewer. Before disconnecting or reconnecting, check current city rules, because they set where roof water may go.

Hillside lots

On a sloped lot, a downspout on the uphill side should not empty where the water will run back along the foundation. Carry it to the downhill side or to a buried line with a stable outlet. On the downhill side, long drops need straps every few feet and a splash block that will not wash out.

Freeze-thaw and ice

A blocked gutter in Akron fills with ice in January and pulls on its hangers all winter. Cleaning in late November after the oaks finish, and checking that downspouts flow freely, is the best protection. Homes with ice dams usually need attic insulation and ventilation, with heat cable in problem spots.

Slate roofs and built-in gutters

Older homes in West Akron and near Stan Hywet often have slate roofs and built-in or box gutters. These are relined rather than replaced, and the work is done from ladders or scaffolding because slate cracks underfoot. A specialist is worth finding for this kind of job.

Suburbs to the north

In Cuyahoga Falls, Stow and Hudson, homes from the 1950s through the 1990s often have original sectional gutters with tired seams. Replacing them with seamless runs and adding guards on wooded lots is the usual upgrade. Lots near the national park get heavy leaf fall every autumn.

Rubber-era slate and stone on the west side

The wealth of the tire companies built some of the grandest homes in Ohio on Akron's west side, from Tudor estates near Stan Hywet Hall to stone and slate houses along Portage Path. These homes often have copper or built-in gutters, carved rafter tails and conductor heads at the top of each downspout. Repairs should match the original metal, and copper should be soldered rather than sealed.

Mixing metals is a common mistake: a steel or aluminum part touching copper corrodes quickly where they meet. Use copper parts on copper systems.

Cuyahoga Falls gorge and steep lots

Along the Cuyahoga River gorge in Cuyahoga Falls, some homes sit near the edge of steep ravines. Roof water released at the top of a ravine bank can erode the slope over time. Downspouts on these properties should carry water to a stable outlet or a buried line, not onto the bank.

Canal history and low ground

The Ohio and Erie Canal once ran through the middle of Akron, and the low ground along its route and along the Little Cuyahoga still collects water after storms. Homes in those low areas often have damp basements. Getting roof water well away from the foundation, and checking that buried downspout lines still drain, are the first things to look at.

Kenmore, Ellet and the post-war bungalows

Kenmore and Ellet have rows of small bungalows and Cape Cods from the 1920s through the 1950s. Many have short gutters on low eaves, with one downspout per side. On these homes the downspouts often empty right beside a basement window well, which is the most common cause of a wet basement corner. Moving the outlet or adding an extension is a quick fix.

Maple seeds and spring cleaning

Akron's maples drop helicopter seeds by the thousands in late spring, and they pack into gutters and downspouts in a dense mat. A spring cleaning after the seeds fall is as important here as the autumn leaf clean. Guards with fine mesh keep the seeds out; screens with large holes do not.

Local guidance

What a proper Akron inspection covers

An inspection worth paying attention to looks at the whole system rather than the point you called about, because the visible symptom is frequently not where the fault is.

That means checking the fall along each run, the condition and spacing of the hangers, every seam and end cap, the flow through each downspout and where it discharges, and the state of the fascia and drip edge behind the gutter.

It should end with you being shown what was found — photographs of anything above eye level — and a written scope rather than a verbal summary and a number.