Category: Gutter Maintenance

What an original system usually looks like

Three things come up again and again. First, the gutters are sectional, short lengths joined on the house, with every joint depending on old sealant. Second, they hang on nail and ferrule hangers: a long spike driven through the front of the gutter, through a tube and into the wood. The wood swells in the wet months and shrinks through the dry summer, slowly working the spikes loose. Third, the whole house carries one gutter size, even though additions, second stories and new tile roofs have since changed how much water reaches each run.

Walk the house during a real storm and note where water comes over the edge, where joints drip and where the wood behind the gutter is stained. One or two items from the repair column below is normal for an older house. Several from the replace column usually means patching has stopped paying off.

Look behind the gutter, not just at it

The wood the gutter hangs on decides how long any fix will last. A hanger only holds in solid wood, and on older Peninsula homes that edge has often taken years of fog, overflow and drips. If the wood near a sagging run gives when you push on it, a new hanger will not hold there either. Peeling paint along the roof edge or stained stucco below a corner tells the same story from the ground.

Things that do not mean you need new gutters

• A gutter that overflows because the outlet is packed with needles or seed pods. That is a cleaning job.
• A downspout knocked loose or crushed at the bottom. That section can be replaced on its own.
• One sagging run on firm wood. New hangers fix it.
• Overflow at a single corner below a valley. Often a second downspout or a bigger outlet solves it.

Our gutter repair page covers the single-visit fixes. Not sure which side of the line you are on? A free estimate prices both when both are real options.

Replacement is the moment to fix what the original builder got wrong, so plan the new system run by run instead of copying the old one.

Size each run for the roof above it

We form 5, 6 and 7 inch gutters. A 5 inch K-style with 2 by 3 inch downspouts handles most single-story roofs when the pitch and downspout spacing are right, and a run over about 40 feet usually wants a second downspout. A 6 inch gutter holds about 40 percent more water and pairs with 3 by 4 inch downspouts, which drain about twice as fast as 2 by 3. That is the usual call below valleys, under an upper roof and along tile roofs. Mixing sizes on one house is common and often the most cost-effective plan.

Pick a metal for how it will age

Every gutter we install is metal. Colored aluminum costs the least, comes in baked-on colors and does not rust, which makes it the everyday pick for most homes. Copper costs the most and weathers to a patina. Galvalume and galvanized steel sit in between. Near the fog and salt air in Pacifica, Daly City and western San Francisco, lean toward aluminum, copper or Galvalume rather than plain galvanized steel. Our specialty materials page compares all four.

Match the profile to the house

K-style, with its flat back and molded front, carries a lot of water for its size and suits most ranch homes. Older houses with deep eaves and decorative trim are a different job. In Burlingame’s Easton Addition or the Old Quad in Santa Clara, a standard K-style hung tight to the board can bury the very detail that makes the house. Half-round, hung on its own brackets, reads softer and suits period homes and copper work. See our gutter styles page.

What your estimate should name

• The gutter size for each run, not one size for the whole house.
• The downspout size and where each one will send its water.
• The hanger type. Quick Screw hidden hangers are the strongest option we install; nail and ferrule is what failed the first time.
• How corners are sealed. Ours are sealed in three places: the seam, the inside overlap and the top.
• The metal and color, matched to the trim.
• Any soft wood that has to be dealt with before the new gutters go up.

Our truck carries the gutter machine, so each run is formed on site to the exact length of that stretch of roof, with seams only at the corners and outlets.

1. Walkthrough and written estimate.A Solutionist from Eric Dodge’s local Sunnyvale team measures every run, checks the pitch and the wood, traces where valleys and upper roofs land, and leaves a written, itemized price.
2. Old system off.The crew takes down the old gutters and downspouts and hauls them away.
3. Roof edge checked.With the gutters off, the wood is easy to see. Anything soft gets flagged so the new hangers go into solid wood.
4. Formed at the curb.Each seamless gutter run comes out of the machine in one piece, in the size, profile and color on your estimate.
5. Hung and sloped.Hidden hangers go in, and every run gets enough fall to empty completely toward its outlet.
6. Water sent somewhere useful.Downspouts, plus downspout extensions and redirects where needed, carry water away from the foundation, walkways and crawl space vents.
7. Water test and cleanup.We run water through the whole system, show you how it performs and leave the property clean.

When to schedule it

Summer, June through August, is the long dry window for new gutter runs and downspout upgrades. The goal is a finished system before the November to April storm season, because a replacement booked after the first big storm is a replacement done in the rain.

Guards, warranty and paying for it

A replacement is the easiest time to add BroGuard, our all-metal stainless micro-mesh guard, especially under oak, redwood or pine. Installed with new seamless gutters, the whole system is backed by our Limited Lifetime Warranty. Price depends on linear footage, roof access, the size and metal you choose, and the condition of the wood behind the old gutters. If you would rather spread the cost out, see our payment options, including financing through Wisetack.

Own a mid-century house with a very different roof? Our post on gutters for Eichler homes covers low-slope rooflines.

One outlet is the whole system

When a flat roof drains through one outlet, that outlet is the entire system. If it clogs, the water does not wait. It ponds on the roof or finds another way down: over the cornice, down the stucco or into the wall. Get that one outlet wrong and the water goes straight into the cornice.

That is also why a rowhouse can look fine for months and fail in a single night. The roof is dry from late spring into fall, grit and leaves collect around the scupper, and the first heavy storm pushes all of it toward one opening at once.

Most of these show up during or right after rain, so look from the sidewalk or a window while it is still coming down.

Fog turns debris into sludge

Fog and wind are the local story here. On the west side, summer fog drips steady moisture into gutters for months, so wet debris and roof grit build up in the trough and at the seams. Debris that never dries turns to sludge and holds water against the gutter and the wood behind it. The ocean wind adds its own trouble, pushing runoff past a short gutter lip and loosening hangers and leader straps. Just south in Daly City, the fog belt keeps needles, grit and debris wet year round on shaded north-facing runs.

What lands on your roof depends on the block

Homes near Sunset Boulevard and along Lincoln Way by Golden Gate Park catch needles from the Monterey pines and cypress. Eucalyptus bark and litter come down near Mount Sutro, the Presidio and Stern Grove. In Noe Valley, southern magnolia is the most common street tree on the city’s Street Tree List, ahead of swamp myrtle and flowering cherry, and those big leathery leaves lie flat over an outlet like a lid. Out toward Ocean Beach, the wind packs sand into gutters and scuppers.

Victorian and Edwardian rowhouses share walls with the neighbors on both sides, so there is no side yard to set a ladder in and nowhere obvious to run a leader except the front steps or the light well. Narrow side gaps and small rear yards are normal in the Sunset and Parkside, where many homes have a short gutter across the front, a flat or low-slope roof behind it and a single leader that drops past the garage door to the sidewalk. Some attached homes even share a downspout with the house next door.

That is why access gets planned on the walkthrough, not argued about on the day. A Solutionist looks at where a ladder can safely stand, how to reach the rear gutter, and whether the leader you care about also carries part of your neighbor’s roof. Shared downspouts get noted in the written scope, so everyone knows what is being touched. On the day, the crew bags the debris and carries it out, so nothing ends up in the light well or on a neighbor’s roof.

Talk to your neighbor first

• Whether you share a leader, a gutter or a roof outlet at the property line.
• Which way the roof between your two houses drains.
• Whether a ladder needs to stand in their yard or on their side of the light well.
• Any leaks or stains they have noticed on their side of the shared wall.
• When their own outlets were last cleared, since a shared edge drains both roofs.

Sorting this out ahead of time makes for a quicker visit and fewer surprises.

San Francisco gets noticeably more rain than Sunnyvale, and it arrives in a short, heavy season. NOAA’s normals for the San Francisco Downtown station put the average at 22.89 inches a year, with about 84 percent of it falling from November through March. Many of the biggest storms are atmospheric rivers, which is why our rain-ready checklist for Peninsula homes pushes the work into October.

1. Clear scuppers and outlets in fall.The Sunset’s clearest weather usually runs from September into early November, the best window to clean and fix before the storms.
2. Flush every leader.Run water in from the top and confirm a steady stream comes out the bottom. A slow leader means a clog at an elbow or below.
3. Check the street end.If the curb drain out front is buried in leaves, report it to 311 under catch basin maintenance, as the SFPUC asks.
4. Look at the metal.Rust streaks, pinholes and loose straps on old steel gutters and hangers mean salt air has been at work.
5. Watch the first big storm.Note where water escapes, then get it on the list for when the weather clears.

Repair, replace or guard

A loose leader strap, a leaking corner or a short gutter pitched the wrong way is usually a gutter repair, done in one visit when possible. When old galvanized runs are rusting through, replacement makes more sense. Aluminum and copper hold up far better near the ocean than old galvanized steel, and we form them on-site as a seamless gutter cut to the exact length of the run. For a Victorian or Edwardian front, copper gutters are worth a look.

Where trees or wind-blown grit keep filling the outlets, BroGuard stainless micro-mesh keeps that grit and debris out while the water runs straight through. A scupper with no trees nearby may only need regular cleanings. Our gutter maintenance program puts those cleanings on the calendar ahead of the storms, and every gutter cleaning includes clearing the scuppers and flushing the leaders, not just the trough. See how we work across the city on our San Francisco page.

Why the gutter matters more than it looks

The same Palo Alto guidelines list flat roofs that can be prone to leaks among the known weak points of these houses. A gutter that overflows keeps that roof edge wet, and on a post-and-beam house the edge is structure, not trim. The exposed beam ends and the fascia that ties them together sit right under the drip line. When an outlet backs up, the water finds the beam instead of the downspout, and years of that soften the wood until the gutter has nothing solid to hang on.

On a ranch house the classic failure is a long run that sags. On an Eichler a gutter is overflowing at a corner, pitched the wrong way or missing on a short run, and on a low-slope roof that water lands right at the glass. Match what you see in a storm to the table below.

Glass walls make every mistake visible

Eichlers put floor-to-ceiling glass and atrium doors right under the roof edge. A little overflow from a ranch roof lands in a flower bed. On an Eichler it runs down the glass, across the entry walk or into the atrium. Leaves also collect in atrium and courtyard corners, so those inside corners are among the first places we look on a walkthrough.

Original gutters and old seams

Plenty of Eichlers still carry older sectional gutters with open seams, and those leak at joint after joint. A gutter repair can buy time on a system that is otherwise sound: corners resealed, a run re-sloped, new hidden hangers set into solid wood. When the joints keep failing, replacing the run with one continuous seamless gutter is usually the better call, because seams then fall only at the corners and outlets.

Most Eichlers do best with a fascia gutter or a low-profile K-style run that follows the roofline instead of hanging below it. A clean K-style in a color matched to the fascia usually keeps the roofline crisp and quiet. Our page on gutter styles walks through the profiles, and colored aluminum gutters let the gutter blend into the trim instead of standing out against it.

Fastening takes some thought. Exposed beams and rafter tails mean there is not always a continuous board to screw into. We choose a profile and hanger method that suits that particular roof edge, using roof straps where there is no fascia to fasten to, so the gutter is held firmly without crowding the beam ends.

Size and slope before length

Because so few outlets carry so much water, sizing matters more on an Eichler than on almost any other house on the Peninsula. A 5-inch K-style gutter with 2×3 downspouts handles a lot of single-story roofs when the pitch and downspout spacing are right. Where one outlet drains a big roof plane, going larger helps. By our own install numbers, a 6-inch gutter holds roughly 40 percent more water than a 5-inch, and a 3×4 downspout drains about twice as fast as a 2×3.

Each run then gets a steady fall toward its outlet. On an Eichler that slope has to be set with care, because the fascia line is a strong design feature and a gutter that visibly drops away from it looks wrong. We form every run on our truck as a seamless gutter cut to the exact length, so even a short Eichler run goes up as one piece with no factory seams.

Plan where the water lands

• Downspouts placed away from glass walls, entry walks and atrium doors.
• Each outlet sized for the roof area it actually drains.
• No downspout emptying onto a patio slab tight against the house.
• Downspout extensions and redirects that carry water to ground sloping away.
• Soft wood at the beam ends or fascia repaired before new hangers go in.
• A gutter color that matches the trim so it reads as part of the house.

If you are planning a remodel, bring the gutters into the conversation early. On Eichler remodels we talk through outlet placement before the siding and landscape plans lock it in. If a flat section drains through a roof drain inside the walls, that line belongs with a roofer or plumber.

Low-slope roofs hold debris longer than steep ones, and the trees on Eichler blocks keep supplying it. In Sunnyvale, sycamore, oak, liquidambar and Chinese pistache drop leaves and seed pods from fall into winter, right when the rain arrives, and liquidambar seed balls can block a downspout outright. In Palo Alto, the protected oaks and redwoods add leaves, acorns and needles most of the year. Our guide on how often to clean gutters on the Peninsula lays out the drop calendar tree by tree.

1. Clean before the rain.Book the main cleaning in fall, before the first real storm, and plan a spring visit if oaks or bay trees hang over the roof.
2. Clear the outlets, not just the trough.On an Eichler the outlet is the system. Every downspout should be flushed until water runs out the bottom.
3. Check corners and atrium edges.Inside corners and courtyard edges collect leaves, and they are where overflow usually starts.
4. Watch the first big storm.From inside, note every spot where water sheets down the glass or drips at a beam.

Guards, needles and embers

Fine redwood and pine needles slip straight through coarse screens. BroGuard is an all-metal stainless micro-mesh guard with an opening finer than a redwood or pine needle, so debris sits on top while heavy rain passes through. It sits flush with a low profile, which suits a clean Eichler edge.

Because it is metal, it also adds nothing flammable at the roofline. CAL FIRE notes that embers can ignite homes up to a mile away, so a gutter full of dry needles matters even outside the mapped hazard zones. Our fire zone gutter check shows where your address falls.

If you would rather not track any of this, our gutter maintenance program schedules visits around the local seasons, and every gutter cleaning includes flushing and testing each downspout.

October check, November cleaning

If big plane trees, sycamores or sweetgums hang over your roof, the leaves may not be down until late November, which is why our guide on how often to clean gutters on the Peninsula puts the main cleaning there. Do not let that push the whole job back. Run this checklist and get any repairs done in October, clear the outlets if a storm is on the forecast, and do the full cleaning once the trees are bare.

1. Clear the debris.Leaves, needles and seed balls packed in the trough cause most overflow. Clogs start where the gutter meets the downspout.
2. Flush and confirm flow.Run a hose into each section you can safely reach. Water should reach the downspout and come out the bottom in a steady stream.
3. Check where the water ends up.Follow each downspout to its outlet. Water should land well away from the foundation, on ground that slopes away.
4. Look for overflow streaks.Dark vertical stripes on siding or stucco, or dirt splashed along the base of a wall, mean water has been spilling over.
5. Check for sagging and gaps.Sight down each run. It should be straight with a slight fall toward the downspouts, not dipping or pulling away.
6. Look at seams and corners.Rust spots, peeling paint or drip marks at corners, end caps and joints are where leaks begin.
7. Press on the fascia.Soft, flaking or discolored wood behind the gutter means water has been getting behind it.

What each finding usually means

A slow downspout means a clog somewhere inside it, often a seed ball or a wad of wet leaves lodged at an elbow. A puddle or bare soil at the outlet means the water is not being carried far enough. Missing or crushed extensions and shifted splash blocks are the most common culprits, and they take minutes to fix. A sag means loose hangers, and a sagging gutter holds standing water and debris that add weight every storm.

Soft fascia is the one not to ignore. The fascia is the board the gutter is fastened to, and once it softens the gutter cannot stay up no matter how good the hangers are. Catching it early keeps a small gutter repair from turning into a bigger one, and our fascia board repair replaces the damaged wood before new hangers go in.

Your quick ground-level list

• Every downspout has an extension, attached and pointed away from the house.
• No bare soil, puddle or trench where the water lands.
• No dark stripes on the wall under the gutter line.
• Each run looks straight from end to end.
• No drip marks or rust rings under corners and end caps.
• Fascia paint is intact and the wood feels solid.

A spotless gutter can still overflow in a heavy storm if it is too small for the roof above it, if one downspout is draining too much roof, or if a long run has lost its slope. The way to tell is to watch during the first real rain, ideally a strong one, and note exactly where the water escapes. The pattern points to the fix.

Upsizing and seamless runs

A standard 5-inch gutter is fine for a lot of roofs, but larger or steeper roofs can send more water to the edge in a strong storm than a 5-inch trough and a small downspout can carry. Our pages on 5-inch gutters and 6-inch gutters explain the difference. When a run is replaced, we form seamless gutters on-site in one continuous run, cut to the exact length of your roofline, so there are far fewer joints to fail.

Where extensions would cross a lawn, a walkway or a driveway, underground gutter drainage carries the water away out of sight and out of the way of the mower.

Cleaning a single-story gutter from a stable ladder is something many homeowners handle. On a second story the ladder is taller, the footing is harder to get right, and the work has you reaching while you are up there. That is the part worth handing to a crew with the right equipment and training, especially in October when you are working against the forecast.

• Any run you cannot reach from a single-story ladder.
• A downspout that stays slow after you flush it from the top.
• Sagging runs or gutters pulling away from the house.
• Soft or rotted fascia behind the gutter.
• Overflow that comes back right after a cleaning.
• A tile or steep roof where nobody should be walking.

What our pre-season visit covers

Our Sunnyvale crew clears every trough by hand, flush-tests the downspouts and fixes loose seams in one visit, with a written estimate first. If something needs more than a quick fix, you hear about it with a price in writing before any work starts, and if all you need is a cleaning, that is what we tell you. Every gutter cleaning includes clearing the downspout openings, not just the trough.

If you would rather not think about this every October, our gutter maintenance program schedules visits around the local seasons, so your gutters are cleared before the rain every year. To keep debris out in the first place, BroGuard fine metal mesh keeps leaves, needles and seed pods out of the trough while heavy rain passes through.

What a once-a-year schedule misses

• The spring oak drop and catkins, which sit in the trough all summer.
• Late-summer redwood and pine needles, which mat into a felt layer.
• Sweetgum seed balls that keep falling after a November cleaning.
• Sycamore seed fuzz that clogs anything with a screen or filter.
• Small damage like a loose hanger or a dried-out corner seal, caught a season late.
• The early storm that arrives before your once-a-year visit does.

The tree that catches people off guard

Coast live oaks are evergreen, so it is easy to assume they never make a mess. They do. They just do it in spring, dropping last year’s leaves as the new ones come in, along with catkins that cover cars and patio furniture. Add sycamore and London plane seed fuzz and you get the main reason a fall-only cleaning falls short here. If a big oak hangs over your roof, the spring visit is not optional.

Needles change the guard question

Fine redwood needles slip straight through coarse gutter screens. Plenty of homeowners with basic screens are surprised to find their gutters full underneath. If needles are your main problem, the type of gutter guard matters more than whether you have one. BroGuard fine metal mesh keeps oak leaves, pear petals, seed pods and needles out, and it carries a limited lifetime warranty when installed with new gutters.

Spring: March through May

This is the season that surprises people. Oak leaves, catkins and sycamore fuzz all come down at once, and they are light enough to slip past screens that stop bigger leaves. Clean, or schedule a cleaning, once the drop finishes, usually late April into May. Flush each downspout with a hose and confirm water comes out the bottom, clear any mat sitting on top of guards, and check that downspout extensions still point away from the foundation after the winter storms.

Summer: June through August

Summer is dry, which makes it the best time to find problems before the rain does. Walk the house and look for sagging sections, separated seams and gutters pulling away from the fascia. Check for peeling sealant at inside and outside corners, the most common leak points, and look for a visible water line that shows a run has lost its slope. Book any gutter repairs now, while the roof is dry and schedules are open. If a redwood or pine is close, plan the late-summer visit for the needle flush.

Fall: September through November

Now the deciduous trees take their turn. Big plane and sycamore leaves, sweetgum seed balls and the summer’s needle carryover make this the biggest load of the year. Timing matters more than anything. Clean too early and the trees refill the gutters before the rain starts. Clean too late and the first storm finds them full. For most Peninsula homes the best window is mid to late November, the most important gutter cleaning of the year. Make sure the downspout openings get cleared, not just the trough.

Winter: December through February

Winter is mostly watching, and the best time to watch is during a real storm. A few minutes at the window in heavy rain tells you more than an hour on a ladder in July. Stay off ladders and the roof while things are wet.

• Water spilling over the front edge means a clog or a downspout that cannot keep up.
• Drips at corners and end caps mean a seam that needs resealing.
• Erosion or a puddle at a downspout means the water is not carried far enough.
• Any section that overflows goes on the list for when the weather clears.

1. Spring reset.Late April or May, once the oak leaves, catkins and seed fuzz are down.
2. Summer walk-around.June or July, from the ground. Look for sags, gaps and dried-out corner seals and book repairs.
3. Needle visit if needed.Late summer for homes under redwoods, pines or heavy overhanging branches.
4. The main cleaning.The second half of November, after the leaves and before the rain gets steady.
5. Watch the first big storm.Overflow or a dry downspout tells you what to fix before January.
6. Adjust next year.If a run overflowed, add a visit or a guard for that section.

When an early storm beats the schedule

Some years a big storm arrives before the trees are done. If one is on the forecast in October and your gutters are already holding a summer’s worth of needles and spring oak leaves, do not wait for late November. Get the outlets and downspouts cleared first, then do the full cleaning after the leaves are down. Our rain-ready checklist for Peninsula homes covers that pre-storm pass step by step.

By neighborhood

Flat lots in Sunnyvale and Santa Clara with a street tree or two usually do fine on two visits. Older neighborhoods with mature canopy, like Los Altos, Old Palo Alto and Menlo Park, often need three. In the wooded hills of Los Altos Hills and Woodside, dry needles in the gutter during the long dry season are also ember fuel, so keeping the trough clear matters for fire safety, and our fire zone gutter check is built for those homes.

That is the idea behind our gutter maintenance program. The visits are scheduled around the local drop calendar, so nobody has to remember. If you would like a straight answer about your own roofline and trees, we will come take a look and tell you what we see.