Minor Gutter Repairs · Cambridge
Minor Gutter Repairs in Cambridge
Most of what is wrong with a Cambridge eavestrough is small and fixable from the ladder on the same visit. The trick is telling that apart from a gutter that is actually done, and saying so.
These are the repairs that belong on a cleaning visit: the things that are found while the trough is open and can be fixed with sealant, screws, hangers and an hour, rather than with new material and a different trade. The line between the two is drawn plainly in the quote.
What counts as a minor repair
- Leaking seams and end caps. The joints in a sectional gutter and the caps at each end are sealed with a gutter sealant that gives up after enough freeze-thaw cycles. The old sealant is scraped out, the joint cleaned and dried, and resealed. On a seamless aluminum run the only joints are at corners and ends, so there is less to go wrong.
- Hangers and spikes. Older Galt and Preston houses often still have spike-and-ferrule gutters, where a long nail through the trough into the fascia has worked loose with every freeze. Those are replaced with screw-in hidden hangers that bite into sound wood. A run that is sagging between hangers gets more hangers.
- Slope. A short run that holds a puddle after a flush is not pitched to the outlet. Re-hanging that section a little higher at the far end fixes it. Re-sloping a whole side of a house is usually a replacement conversation, and you will be told which it is.
- Downspouts and extensions. Straps that have rusted off, a downspout swinging free of the wall, an elbow that has split from ice, an extension that was kicked off in the winter. Replaced or reattached as part of the visit.
- Small holes. A rust pinhole in a steel trough or a puncture in aluminum can be patched with a proper gutter patch. A trough that is rusting along its length cannot, and is not patched.
What is not a minor repair
Replacing a run of eavestrough, installing new gutters on a new roof, fascia and soffit repair, and anything that needs a brake and a roll of coil stock. Those are installation work, done by an eavestrough installer, and this site does not take them on. If what you need is replacement, you will hear that clearly rather than being sold a patch that fails next spring.
Why freeze-thaw is the enemy
The Environment Canada normals for this region put December's mean daily high just above freezing and the mean low near -7 °C, and March is not much different. Every one of those days a trough with water in it expands and contracts, and sealant, fasteners and the fascia behind them take the strain. That is why end caps weep and spikes back out here far faster than in a milder climate, and why an eavestrough that drains completely, with nothing standing in it over winter, lasts years longer. Getting the slope and the outlets right is the repair that prevents the others.
Old houses and the fascia
On a pre-war Galt house the fascia behind the gutter is often original wood, and sometimes soft from decades of overflow. A hanger will not hold in rotten wood, and a gutter re-hung into it will fall again. If the fascia is gone that is said in the quote, because the fix is carpentry before it is gutter work.
Frequently asked questions
My gutter drips at the corner after it rains. Is that a repair or a replacement?
Almost always a repair. Corners on a sectional gutter are a mitred joint full of sealant that has given up; it is cleaned out and resealed. If the metal at the corner is rusted through rather than just unsealed, the corner piece can sometimes be replaced on its own.
Can you fix a gutter that is pulling away from the house?
If the fascia is sound, yes: the old spikes come out and screw-in hangers go in. If the trough is pulling away because the fascia has rotted, the fascia is the job, and that is carpentry rather than a gutter repair. You will be shown a photo so you can see which it is.
Do you replace sections of eavestrough?
No. This site covers cleaning, guards and minor repairs. Replacing runs, installing new eavestrough and fascia or soffit work are installation jobs for an eavestrough installer, and you will be told honestly when that is what you need.
Serving Cambridge and surrounding areas. Contact us for a no-obligation quote specific to your property.