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Gutters: what they are actually protecting, and when to clean them
On clay soil, gutters are not really about the roof. They are about keeping water off the ground your slab is sitting on.
A gutter looks like roof equipment. It is not. Every roof around here sheds an ugly amount of water in one of our storms, and the only question is whether that water lands somewhere you picked or in a trench it digs along the edge of your slab. Gutters are foundation equipment. They happen to hang off the roof.
Why it matters more here than in a lot of places
Clay. The dirt under your house swells when it is wet and shrinks when it is dry, and it never does either one evenly. Soak one side of the house every time it rains while the other side bakes, and the ground under that slab is moving in two directions at once. That is behind a good share of the cracked corners and stuck doors I get called about, so it is worth knowing which cracks actually matter. It is far easier to manage outside with working gutters than to chase indoors afterward.
When to clean them
- Late fall, once the leaves have finished dropping. Everybody knows this one.
- Late spring, which nearly everybody skips. Oak catkins, seed pods and the grit that rinses off a shingle roof pack into a dense mat that leaves alone never make.
- After any storm worth the name, if there are trees near the roofline.
- Any time you see water sheeting over the front lip in the rain. That is a blockage announcing itself.
Things to look at while you are up there, or while I am
- Where the downspouts let go. Well clear of the house, or straight down beside the slab. Extending one is a small job with a big effect.
- Sagging runs and loose fasteners. A gutter that has dropped in the middle holds standing water, and standing water is heavy.
- Separated joints. They drip on the same square foot of something until that something is gone.
- Rot in the fascia and soffit behind the gutter. That is usually the first real damage a neglected gutter causes, and it happens quietly.
Guards
They help. They are not a cure. A good one keeps leaves out and still lets fine grit through, so cleaning twice a year turns into checking once. Anybody telling you a guard means never thinking about your gutters again is selling harder than the product can back up.
If a ladder is not somewhere you want to be, this is the kind of thing to put on a list with a few other small jobs and have done in one visit.
Related: Gutter Cleaning
More from the blog
- How I price a job, and why I won't guess over the phone
- The new-build punch list your builder never came back for
- Is your shower failing, or just ugly?
- Before you call anyone: the photos to send
- One visit or three? How to group a punch list
- Drywall cracks: which ones matter and which ones don't
- Why a texture repair shows, and how matching actually works
- Choosing flooring that survives a Central Texas house
- After a Texas storm: what to check, and in what order
- Cabinets: reface, repaint, or replace?
- Interior painting: the preparation is the job
- Building outdoors in this sun: what actually lasts
Ready to get that list handled?
Send a few photos and I'll tell you what it takes, in writing, before anything starts. I work across Leander, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Round Rock and the towns nearby.