Gutters and downpipes, checked from the roof down

Before any gutter replacement Melbourne homeowners pay for, it is worth knowing why the gutters are failing in the first place. Sometimes they are rusted out. Often they are simply blocked, or they are taking water from a roof that sheds more debris than they can handle, or they were never big enough for the roof above them. We look at the gutters, downpipes and box gutters from the roof, clear them, photograph what we find and fix the roofing side of the problem. Where replacement is needed, we scope it with photos and coordinate the work.

Gutters are the least glamorous part of a roof and one of the most common causes of storm season water damage. A full or rusted gutter does not only overflow outside. On many houses it overflows backwards, into the eaves and the wall cavity, and the first sign is a stain on an internal wall.

Signs your gutters need attention

• Rust spots, pinholes or splits along the gutter, especially at joints and corners
• Gutters sagging away from the fascia, or water pooling in sections
• Water pouring over the front edge in heavy rain
• Water marks on the fascia, eaves or walls below the gutter
• Plants growing in the gutters
• Downpipes that drip long after rain stops, which usually means a blockage
• Box gutters behind parapets that overflow into the house in storms

Blocked, undersized or worn out

Most gutter problems fall into three groups, and each needs a different answer.

Blocked. Leaves, moss, grit washed off the tiles and the odd tennis ball. A blocked gutter or downpipe overflows even if the gutter itself is in good condition. Clearing it, and dealing with what is washing into it, is the fix.

Undersized. Common where a house has been extended and the original gutters now take water from a bigger roof than they were designed for, or where a valley dumps a large volume of water into one short run of gutter. These overflow in heavy rain even when they are clean.

Worn out. Once rust has gone through in several places, patching becomes a cycle and replacement is the sensible spend.

Telling these apart from the ground is hard. From the roof, with the gutter cleared, it is usually obvious.

What we do

Inspect from the roof. We look along every gutter run, into the outlets and down the downpipes as far as we can see, and at the fascia and the roof edge. We check the fall, the condition of the gutters, and how much roof each section drains. Everything failing is photographed.

Clear and flush. Gutters and outlets are cleared of leaves, moss and grit, and flushed to see how the water actually runs. A gutter that holds water, or an outlet that backs up, shows itself straight away.

Fix the roofing side. Many gutter problems start on the roof. Moss washing off the tiles, a valley emptying too much water into one corner, cracked tiles along the eaves line, or roof debris feeding the blockage: those are roofing jobs, and we fix them. A roof clean is often the single biggest help to a gutter that keeps filling up.

Report and quote. You get a photo report and a written quote. If the gutters only needed clearing, that is all you pay for. If they need replacing, the quote and photos show which sections and why.

Coordinate replacement. In Victoria, installing or replacing gutters, downpipes and box gutters is roof plumbing work that has to be done by a licensed roof plumber, and stormwater drains below ground are plumbing work too. When your gutters need replacing, we coordinate that work, and you see photos of the result.

Box gutters

Box gutters sit inside the roof line rather than hanging off the edge: behind the parapet of a terrace, between two roofs over a party wall, or along the valleys of a factory roof. Because they sit inside the building, an overflow goes straight into the ceiling. Many older box gutters were undersized from the start, and their outlets block easily.

We get up to them, clear them, check the lining for rust and splits, look at the outlet, the sump and whether there is any overflow, and photograph all of it. Box gutters are often hidden from the street, so the photos are usually the first time an owner has seen theirs. If the box gutter needs rebuilding, that is roof plumbing work, and the photos and our notes tell you exactly what is wrong.

Fascias and eaves

Gutters hang on the fascia, the board running along the roof edge. When gutters overflow for years, the fascia behind them often rots, and so can the rafter ends and the eaves lining. We check and photograph the fascia during the inspection, so if gutters are being replaced, any rotten timber behind them can be dealt with at the same time rather than discovered halfway through.

Gutter guard

Gutter guard is a mesh fitted over the gutter to keep out leaves. Under heavy tree cover it cuts down how often gutters need clearing, though it does not remove the need entirely. Fine debris still gets through and builds up, so guarded gutters still need checking. We will tell you honestly whether your house needs it.

What you receive

• A free inspection from the roof, with photos of every gutter run, outlet and box gutter we can reach
• Gutters and outlets cleared and flushed, if that is part of the job
• Roofing side causes fixed, such as moss, cracked eaves tiles or debris feeding the gutters
• A written quote with photos, showing what needs replacing and what does not
• A photo report of the finished work

Proof on every roof covers the edges too. You see what was wrong, and what was done about it.

Gutters and storms

Before summer storms is the time to have gutters checked. Clear gutters, valleys and downpipes, especially under trees, and get rust and blockages dealt with before the heavy rain arrives. Our storm season checklist and our guide to gutters overflowing in heavy rain, both in News, cover what to look for from the ground.

Price guidance

Clearing gutters is a modest job. Replacement is usually priced by the metre, plus downpipes and any fascia work. What moves the number:

• Total length of gutter, and the number of corners and outlets
• Single or double storey access
• How blocked the gutters are, and whether the roof is feeding them debris
• Fascia repairs once the old gutter is off
• Number of downpipes and whether box gutters are involved

Our roof restoration cost guide in News explains how to read a roofing quote line by line, and the same approach works for gutters. The inspection and quote are free.

Gutters as part of a bigger job

During a roof restoration, gutters are cleared and checked as part of the job. Gutter replacement is often worth planning alongside a reroof or tile to Colorbond conversion, so the whole roof drains as one system. And if water is getting in somewhere you cannot explain, our roof leak repairs service traces it, because an overflowing gutter is one of the first suspects.