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Gutters: what they are actually protecting, and when to clean them
On clay soil, gutters are not about the roof. They are about keeping water away from the slab your house is sitting on.
Gutters look like a roof accessory and they are really a foundation one. Every roof sheds an enormous volume of water in one of our storms, and the only question is whether it lands in a controlled place or in a trench around the perimeter of your slab.
Why it matters more here than in a lot of places
Clay soil swells when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries. If one side of your house is being repeatedly soaked while another stays dry, the ground under the slab is moving unevenly. That is the mechanism behind a lot of the cracked walls and sticking doors I get called about, and it is far cheaper to manage with working gutters than to chase indoors afterwards.
When to clean them
- Late autumn, once the leaves have finished dropping. This is the one everybody knows about.
- Late spring, which people skip. Oak catkins, seed pods and the grit that washes off a shingle roof pack down into a dense mat that leaves alone never make.
- After any serious storm, if you have trees anywhere near the roofline.
- Any time you see water sheeting over the front edge in rain. That is a blockage telling you about itself.
Things to look at while you are up there, or while I am
- Whether downspouts discharge 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 gets heavier.
- Separated joints, which drip onto the same spot until something rots.
- Rot in the fascia and soffit behind the gutter, which is usually the first real damage a neglected gutter causes.
Guards
They help and they are not a permanent solution. Good ones keep leaves out and still let fine grit through, so you go from cleaning twice a year to checking once. Anyone telling you a guard means never thinking about it again is selling harder than the product deserves.
If you would rather not be on a ladder, that is exactly the sort 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. Free written estimates across Leander, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Round Rock and the towns nearby.