Gutter Repair Services

Before you book

What to know before booking a gutter repair

Start by working out where the water is going wrong. Stand outside in a heavy rain, or run a hose on the roof, and watch. Water spilling over the front edge points to pitch, capacity or a blockage; water dripping behind the gutter points to a missing drip edge or a gap between the gutter and the fascia; water leaking at a joint points to failed sealant or a separated seam. Telling the contractor what you saw saves time and makes the quote more accurate.

A good repair quote names the cause, not just the symptom. "Reseal leaking corner" is fine if the corner is the only fault, but if the run has sagged and the water is pooling at the corner, resealing will fail again. Look for a quote that mentions pitch, hanger spacing and the condition of the fascia, and that tells you whether the section can be repaired or should be replaced.

Hanger type matters more than most people realise. Older gutters were often fastened with long spikes driven through a ferrule into the fascia; those work loose with every freeze-thaw cycle. Hidden hangers screwed into the fascia every 24 inches or so, or closer in snow country, hold far better. If your gutters are still on spikes, replacing them with hidden hangers is often the single most useful part of a repair.

Finally, ask what happens if the fascia is soft. Rotted wood behind a gutter is common, and a contractor who discovers it halfway through should stop, show you, and quote the extra work before going ahead rather than screwing new hangers into wood that will not hold them.

Fixing rain gutters: small fixes versus a full repair service

Not every problem needs a crew and a lift. A single end cap that has started to drip, one hanger that has backed out, or a short length of caulking that has cracked at a corner are minor gutter repairs, usually finished in under an hour. They are worth booking early, because a slow drip at one joint runs down the same strip of siding and fascia every time it rains, and that strip is where rot and paint failure start.

A full repair visit is a different job. It covers a whole run or a whole elevation: lowering the gutter, replacing every failed hanger, setting a new fall, resealing every joint and testing the flow. When several small leaks appear along the same run within a year or two, the cause is usually the run itself settling, and paying for three separate small visits costs more than one proper repair of the run.

Roof and gutter repair: who should do which part

Gutters sit on the line where the roof ends and the wall begins, so a lot of searches are really about both: a storm lifts the last row of shingles and bends the gutter below it, or a roof leak shows up as water behind the gutter. A roofer is the right trade for shingles, underlayment and flashing that sits under them. A gutter contractor is the right trade for the trough, its hangers, the downspouts and the fascia board they fasten to.

When both are damaged, ask whether the roofer will lift and refit the gutter or whether the gutter contractor should come first. If the roof edge is being replaced, the gutter normally comes down, so it makes sense to repair or replace it at the same time rather than paying to remove and rehang a gutter that was already failing.

Gutter and siding repair

A leaking gutter often leaves its mark on the siding below it: dark streaks on vinyl, peeling paint on wood lap siding, or swollen, soft fiber-cement edges. Fixing the siding without fixing the gutter means the same strip gets wet again in the next storm. Ask for the gutter fault to be repaired first, then judge the siding once it has had a few weeks to dry, because some staining fades and some does not.

Gutter repair companies, contractors or a handyman?

A handyman can be a sensible choice for a single-story house with a straightforward problem, such as one loose downspout bracket. For anything that involves resetting the slope of a run, working above the first story, or a fascia board that may be soft, a gutter specialist is usually the better value. They carry the right hangers and sealants, they can form a replacement section to match, and they work at height every day. Whoever you hire, ask to see proof of liability insurance before anyone sets a ladder against the house.

Older and unusual gutters: wood, concrete and built-in

Some older homes still have wood gutters, usually fir or cedar, and some have built-in or concrete gutters formed into the roof edge or the cornice. These can be repaired, but it is specialist work: rotten sections of a wood gutter are cut out and spliced, then the trough is sealed and lined; concrete and built-in gutters are usually relined with a membrane or a metal liner. Expect fewer contractors to quote, a longer lead time and a higher price than for a standard aluminum repair, and ask to see photos of similar jobs.

Does home insurance pay for gutter repair?

It depends on the cause. Damage from a sudden event, such as a fallen tree limb, hail or wind, is often covered under a standard homeowners policy, subject to the deductible. Wear, rust, sagging from age and damage from long-term clogging usually are not. If the damage came from a storm, take dated photos before anything is moved, keep the contractor's written estimate, and call your insurer before the repair is done. The emergency and storm damage page explains that process in more detail.