Gutters, Downpipes and Leaf Guard, Central Coast

Water over the edge is a roof problem in disguise

Overflowing gutters do not stay a gutter issue for long. Water sheeting over the front edge goes into the fascia, down the wall, behind the eaves lining, and eventually into the ceiling. On a sloping block it ends up against the footings. By the time anybody rings a roofer, the gutter has usually been failing quietly for a couple of years.

Call (02) 4307 5050 and we will get up and look at the whole run — fall, joints, brackets, the back of the gutter where it meets the roof, and the downpipes that are supposed to be taking the water away.

The same job, three different problems

Under the gums: volume and blockage

Ourimbah, Lisarow, Narara, Niagara Park, Wyoming and West Gosford sit in established bushland. Eucalypts shed leaves, strips of bark and hard seed capsules all year, and that material compacts in a damp trough into something close to soil.

What goes wrong:

• The effective depth of the gutter halves, so it overflows in a downpour that it used to handle.
• Water backs up over the rear lip of the gutter, under the first row of tiles, and into the eaves.
• Downpipes choke at the top bend, which you cannot see from the ground.
• Valleys block at the same time, for the same reason, and that is where real leaks start.

On steep blocks the problem compounds, because a large roof catchment discharges into a yard that drops away fast.

Around the lakes: corrosion where water sits

Long Jetty, Berkeley Vale, Toukley, Budgewoi, Woy Woy, Ettalong Beach, Davistown, Saratoga and Hardys Bay face a different enemy. A gutter is the only part of a roof deliberately built to hold water, and around Tuggerah Lake, Budgewoi Lake and Brisbane Water that water is brackish, the air is humid and the trough rarely dries out.

Sheltered, slow-drying, unwashed — that is the worst possible combination for coated steel. The roof above gets rinsed by rain; the gutter keeps a damp, salty residue in the bottom permanently. It is normal for us to find a perfectly serviceable roof sitting on a gutter line that has rusted through at the joints and behind the brackets.

On the ocean side: fixings and brackets

At Terrigal, Avoca Beach, Copacabana, Shelly Beach, The Entrance, Umina Beach and Killcare, the gutter material is usually not the first casualty — the hardware is. Brackets, rivets, screws and the fixings into the fascia go first. Fasteners to AS 3566 Class 3 are not intended for use within 400 metres of the ocean or other severe marine influence, so on a beachside house the whole gutter assembly needs to be specified at that level, not just the gutter profile.

What we do

• Clear and inspect gutters, valleys and downpipes, with photographs of what came out and what is underneath.
• Repair leaking joints, re-fix sagging sections, re-set fall, replace brackets and failed stop-ends.
• Replace full gutter runs and fascia cover where the profile is past repair.
• Downpipes — replace, resize, reroute and connect properly so the water actually leaves the site.
• Leaf guard matched to the trees overhead and, where required, to bushfire construction standards.
• Box gutters and skillion runs on 1970s and 80s rear additions, which carry far more water per metre than people assume and leak into the house rather than over the edge when they block.

Work is carried out by established, licensed and insured roofing contractors working to NSW Fair Trading requirements, and completed work carries a written workmanship warranty.

Leaf guard, honestly

Leaf guard is worth it on a treed block and close to pointless on an open one. What it does well: keeps gum leaves, bark and seed capsules out of the trough, stops valleys packing up at the gutter mouth, and makes maintenance a brush-off rather than a shovel-out.

What it does not do: eliminate maintenance. Fine debris still collects on top, and on a heavily shaded block that layer needs attention. Anyone promising a maintenance-free gutter under a stand of eucalypts is selling you something.

The product choice matters. Plastic mesh is cheap and fails under UV. Aluminium and steel mesh last longer, and where a property is on bushfire prone land with bushfire construction requirements, a non-combustible guard is the only sensible specification. Mesh aperture should be chosen for the species dropping on the roof — the right size for gum leaves is not the right size for pine needles.

Repair or replace

Repair is right when the run is sound and the faults are local — a leaking joint, a sagging section, a bracket that has let go, a downpipe that has been crushed.

Replace when:

• rust has gone through the base of the trough in more than one place,
• the fall runs the wrong way along a long section and cannot be corrected by re-hanging,
• the fascia behind the gutter has rotted and the fixings have nothing to bite into,
• the profile is undersized for the catchment and the overflow is chronic,
• or the roof itself is being replaced, in which case doing both at once saves an access charge.

Costs

Gutter work is priced on linear metres, the profile and grade specified, how many downpipes and where they discharge, whether fascia cover or fascia replacement is needed, single or double storey, and access — scaffold on a steep Killcare block is a real cost that a flat Umina street does not carry.

Free inspection, written itemised quote, no obligation.

Get the gutters sorted

Call (02) 4307 5050 or send the details through the quote form.

Related: storm and emergency repairs if a gutter has come down, roof repairs if water has already reached the ceiling, and the service areas page to check your suburb.