Guttering and Exteriors

Guttering causes more building damage than almost anything else on a house, and it does it slowly enough that nobody reacts until the wall is stained. A gutter that overflows for one winter puts more water into brickwork than a leaking tile ever does. Most of what we are called out for is not a broken gutter at all, it is a gutter that has dropped out of level or a downpipe that has silted up at the shoe.

Gutters cleared, realigned or replaced, with the downpipe and roofline sorted at the same time rather than left for later.

Why gutters fail in this part of Oxfordshire

Tree cover is the main culprit. Streets lined with lime and sycamore fill gutters with leaf litter every autumn, and the litter rots into a soil that holds water and grows moss. Once that happens the gutter is heavy, and the weight pulls the brackets out of the fascia.

The second cause is age of fixings. Plastic gutter fitted in the 1980s and 1990s is often still perfectly serviceable, but the brackets and the rubber seals in the union joints are not. A union seal that has gone hard drips constantly in light rain and floods in heavy rain.

Leaf and moss build up from mature street trees

Perished union seals dripping onto the wall below

Brackets pulled loose from soft or rotten fascia timber

Falls lost over time so water sits rather than runs to the outlet

Downpipes silted at the shoe or blocked at an underground gulley

Gutters undersized for a large or steep roof slope

What the damage looks like from the ground

A green or black vertical stain down the wall below a joint is a leaking union. A wide damp band across the wall under the eaves is an overflowing run. Moss growing on the render or brick directly below the gutter line tells you the water has been landing there long enough to establish a habitat.

Inside, gutter faults show up as damp at the top of an upstairs wall or in a bedroom corner, which people almost always assume is a roof leak. Checking the gutter first saves a great deal of unnecessary roof work.

Cleaning and realigning is the right answer far more often than replacement. If the gutter itself is sound and the brackets can be refixed into solid timber, there is no case for ripping it off.

Replacement earns its place when the fascia behind the gutter has rotted, when the profile is undersized for the roof, or when the plastic has gone brittle and chalky and cracks whenever it is handled. On a cast iron system, repair and repaint is usually far better value than a plastic replacement, and it keeps the look of the building.

Doing the roofline as one job

The gutter, the fascia, the soffit and the drip edge of the roof covering all work together. Replacing the gutter and leaving a soft fascia behind it guarantees a repeat visit, because the new brackets have nothing solid to bite into.

Where access is already in place we will always price the whole roofline as an option alongside the minimum repair, so you can see what the difference actually is rather than being pushed into the bigger job.

How often should gutters be cleared?

Once a year on an open plot, twice a year where mature trees overhang the roof. Late autumn after leaf fall is the single most useful clear.

Is a damp patch upstairs a gutter problem or a roof problem?

If the damp sits high on an outside wall and worsens in prolonged rain rather than driving rain, the gutter is the first thing to check. Roof leaks tend to show on the ceiling rather than the top of the wall.

Can you match my existing gutter profile?

In most cases yes. Half round, square line, ogee and deep flow are all readily available, and we match colour so a single replaced run does not stand out.

Should I replace cast iron gutters with plastic?

Not usually, and on a period or listed property often not at all. Cast iron that is sound can be rebedded, resealed and repainted for a fraction of the cost of a full replacement and it keeps the character of the building.

Do you fit gutter guards?

We do, but honestly they suit some roofs and not others. Under heavy leaf fall a guard can trap debris on top and make the run harder to clear rather than easier, so we advise case by case.

Why does my gutter only overflow in heavy rain?

Either the fall has been lost so the run fills before it drains, the outlet is partly blocked, or the gutter is undersized for the area of roof feeding it. All three are fixable without replacing everything.

Look at the wall, not just the gutter

Staining tells us where water has actually been going, which is often not where the homeowner expects.

Check the fascia before quoting

Pushing a bradawl into the board behind the gutter takes seconds and decides whether a repair will hold.

Clear and test with water

We run water through the system so you can see whether the fall and the outlet are actually working before we call it done.

Photograph before and after

Gutters are the one part of the house nobody can inspect from the ground, so you get the photographs.

Price the repair and the replacement

Both options in writing, with the honest recommendation stated, rather than one number and a push.

Evans Roofing & Maintenance Ltd, Witney, Oxfordshire. Call 07960 482233 for a free written quote.