5 signs your gutters are clogged
Published on
In Pointe-aux-Trembles, Rivière-des-Prairies and Anjou, the maples and ash trees put in a full shift every autumn. Their leaves tend to end up in one place: your gutters. The trouble is that you can't see inside a gutter from the sidewalk. Here are five reliable signs, all of them visible from the ground.
1. Water spills over the edge
This is the clearest one. During a good downpour, step outside and watch the roofline. If water is running over the lip of the gutter instead of heading down the downspout, something is blocking it upstream. A healthy gutter drains through the downspout, never over the sides.
2. Dark streaks down the front
Those dark stains under the lip of the gutter are dirt deposits left behind by water that has overflowed again and again. They tell you what happened during the last few rainfalls, even on a dry day.
3. Plants growing in the gutter
A little tuft of green poking over the edge means there is enough packed soil up there for a seed to germinate. That represents several seasons of decomposed leaves. At that point the weight itself becomes a problem for the brackets.
4. A silent downspout
While it's raining, walk up to a downspout and listen. Good flow makes noise. If it's quiet during heavy rain, the water isn't reaching it.
5. Eroded soil along the foundation
When a gutter overflows, the water lands right at the base of the wall instead of being carried away. The result is dug-out soil, displaced mulch and, over time, moisture in the basement. This is the sign that costs the most to ignore.
How we handle it
We work with a telescopic pole fitted with an inspection camera. Nobody climbs onto your roof, no ladder leans against your gutters, and you get before-and-after photos. For a bungalow, one visit usually settles it.
If your house has two storeys, or the gutters are heavily packed, we'll say so straight on the phone rather than waste a visit.
Recognize any of these at your place? Leave us your details and we'll call you back.