We hear it all the time. Hey my eavestrough are leaking do you offer repairs? And yes we do! But often times a small repair can easily be done without a professional. Here are the top leaks we see and how to fix them.
Miter/corner leaks
Corner leaks are by far the most common and can be very annoying. Hand mitered corners only have one seam where the box miter has 3 seams. Either way a leak in the corner can be fixed if the eavestrough is in good shape. First determine what caused it in the first place. If there is lots of water in the gutter it could be sloped incorrectly causing the sealant to fail prematurely. A little bit of standing water up to an 1″ is normal. Once you determine the gutter is sloped properly clean out and debris and using needle nose pliers peel off the old caulking, after you have the caulking removed wipe everything down and dry it out completely. Once clean and dry apply new caulking, gutter seal and geocel work best. Cover all the seams and spread it out a few inches on each side good rule of thumb is use half a tube per corner, and you’ve fixed your leak!
2. Water Leaking Between Gutter and Fascia
Water Leaking Between the gutter and the fascia is pretty common and there’s a few reasons why this could be happening. Often with older style gutters with the spikes/nails holding up the gutter, the nails over time will back out and the gutter will come away from the fascia and water can trickle through. In this situation you would grab your trusty hammer and tap the loose nails back tight, this works but often times this is a sign they need replacing. With standard new style eavestrough with hangers the most likely cause is the gutter isn’t up under the drip edge of the roof and water can travel behind the gutter. This is most common near downspouts where the slope of the gutter is the lowest. The best way to fix this issue permanently is to cut a small strip of metal/aluminum and use it to bridge the gap between the gutter and the drip edge. This requires some basic tools and a little bit of craftiness.
3. Water Leaking Behind Fascia or Through Soffit.
Water coming out of the soffit or behind the fascia can be tricky to diagnose where the root cause is. Best way to diagnose is start with the obvious checking if the fascia is up under the drip edge of the roof. We often see fascia being to short allowing water behind, if that’s the case the fix is the same as previous show with aluminum flashing to bridge the gap. If your fascia is up under the drip properly as well as your eavestrough up under, the problem lies higher on the roof. It could then be a drip edge issue or a small hole in the shingle. This is more difficult to determine and is best you call a professional for an inspection.
Hopefully this helped you or you learned a thing or two. Any questions or issues we’re happy to help!
