Gutters Are Part Of The Roof, Whether Or Not You Think Of Them That Way

What a gutter is actually doing

Every gallon that lands on the roof runs to the eave. Without a gutter it falls straight off, onto the ground a foot or two from the wall, where it splashes back onto the stucco and soaks the soil against the foundation. With a working gutter it is collected, carried to a downspout and discharged where it does no harm. That is the entire point - not tidiness, but control of where the water goes once the roof has finished with it.

Where the gutter meets the roof

The gutter hangs from the fascia, just below the drip edge. The drip edge - the metal strip at the roof's lower edge - is supposed to direct water into the gutter and away from the fascia behind it. If the gutter is hung too low, or the drip edge is short, or the two are not aligned, water runs behind the gutter and down the fascia. Fascia rots. Soffit follows. The roof was fine.

What a failed gutter does

• Overflow at the eave - the gutter is full of debris or the outlet is blocked, and water pours over the front edge in every rain, onto whatever is below.
• Water behind the gutter - alignment, as above, or a gutter that has pulled away from the fascia at the hangers.
• Standing water in the gutter - a sag between hangers, or the wrong fall, so the gutter holds water permanently. Weight, corrosion, and mosquitoes.
• Downspout discharge at the foundation - the gutter did its job and then dumped the whole roof's water at one spot against the house.

Why it comes up in a roof inspection

Because the roofer is standing right there, looking down at it, and because half of what we are asked to look at as "roof leaks" - stained soffits, rotted fascia, damp walls at the eave - is gutter water. The condition of the gutters is noted in every Roof Sentry report for that reason. Gutter cleaning, repair and replacement are separate services from the roof plan; what the plan does is put them on your record so you know when they need attention.

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