Gutter repairs

Most gutter problems are not the gutter itself failing. They are the fixings, the pitch or the seams.

• Sagging runs, where hangers have pulled out of soft fascia and the gutter no longer holds its line
• Wrong pitch, so water pools in the middle of a run instead of moving to the downspout
• Leaking seams and end caps, the first place a sealed joint gives out
• Downspouts that are blocked, disconnected, or dumping water against the foundation
• Rotted fascia behind the gutter, which is usually why the hangers let go in the first place

We fix the cause, not just the symptom. Re-hanging a gutter into fascia that has gone soft only moves the problem a year down the road, so if the wood behind it has rotted, that gets addressed first.

New gutters

When a gutter system is past repair, we replace it. That means sizing the gutter and downspouts to the roof area actually draining into them, setting the pitch so water moves, and fixing into sound wood.

Downspout placement matters as much as the gutter itself. Water needs somewhere to go once it leaves the building, and a downspout discharging next to a foundation creates a different and more expensive problem than the one you started with.

Undersized gutters are a common inherited problem, particularly where a large roof plane or a valley dumps into a single short run. Adding a downspout is sometimes a better answer than a bigger gutter.

Gutters, fascia and drip edge

These three work as one system, which is why gutter problems and roof problems keep turning up together.

Drip edge is the metal flashing at the roof edge that directs water off the decking and into the gutter. Without it, or with it installed wrong, water runs behind the gutter and down the fascia. The fascia softens, the hangers loosen, the gutter sags, and water starts sheeting over the back edge into the soffit.

By the time someone calls about a sagging gutter, there is often fascia and trim work underneath it. We cover that side of it on roof repair.

Gutters and ice dams

Worth being clear about this, because it is the most common misconception we hear: gutters do not cause ice dams.

An ice dam forms when heat escapes from the house into the attic, warms the roof deck, and melts snow from underneath. That meltwater runs down to the eave, which is cold because there is no heated space beneath it, and refreezes. The ridge of ice builds and backs water up under the shingles.

A full gutter gives that ice somewhere to anchor and grow, so gutters are part of how it looks. They are not the cause. If you are getting ice dams every winter, the fix is in the attic, and cleaning the gutters will not stop it.

Gutters with a new roof

If you are already having the roof done, it is the moment to sort the gutters out. The drip edge, the first shingle course and the gutter line all meet at the same few inches of roof, and they are all accessible at once.

Doing gutters as a separate visit later means paying again for the setup and working around a roof that is now finished. See roof replacement for how we handle the edge detail.

Gutter work across Albany and the Capital Region

We repair and replace gutters on homes and commercial buildings in Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga County and the towns around them. On older housing stock in particular, gutter work and fascia repair usually arrive together, and it is worth having both looked at in the same visit rather than fixing the gutter twice.

Tell us what your gutters do in heavy rain and we will tell you whether it is a repair or a replacement.