How do you know if your gutters are blocked?
You do not need to go up a ladder to work this out. Nearly every blockage shows itself from ground level, most obviously while it is raining.
The quickest test is to stand outside during steady rain and watch where the water actually goes.
What to look for during rain
- Water spilling over the front edge rather than running along the gutter
- A curtain of water at one joint or corner
- A downpipe making no sound while others are running
- Water escaping from a downpipe joint part-way down
- Splashing at the base of a wall rather than draining away
What to look for when it is dry
- Green algae or a dark stripe on the wall below a gutter joint
- Vegetation growing along the gutter line
- Sagging sections where the weight of debris has pulled the run down
- Staining on fascias and soffits directly beneath the gutter
- Damp patches on internal walls near the affected corner
Gutter or downpipe?
If the gutter overflows near a downpipe, the pipe itself is usually the problem. If it overflows at the far end of a run, the blockage is more often in the gutter or the fall is wrong.
Both are checked and cleared as part of the same visit, and it is worth knowing which it was — a repeatedly blocking downpipe usually points at something further up the roof.
Want it looked at properly?
Send a few photographs of the elevation along with the address, and Rob will tell you what can realistically be improved, what it will cost and when it can be done.