Gutters and Downspouts in Kansas City

The most common problem is not a hole. It is capacity. A great many older homes in this metro have five-inch gutter carrying water off a roof that was later re-covered with a heavier architectural shingle, or off a roof whose area was increased by an addition. The gutter was marginal to begin with and now it overflows every time we get a real downpour.

The second problem is pitch. A gutter needs a consistent fall toward the downspout. When hangers loosen or fascia softens, the run sags in the middle and water stands there, which adds weight, breeds mosquitoes, and accelerates the sag.

The third problem is where the water goes after the downspout. A downspout dumping at the base of a wall is concentrating the entire roof's runoff against the foundation. That is a basement problem being created by a roof accessory.

Sectional gutter comes in lengths joined with connectors, and every one of those joints is a future leak. Seamless gutter is roll-formed on site into one continuous piece per run, with joints only at corners and end caps. It costs slightly more and it lasts considerably longer.

We form seamless aluminum on site in five-inch and six-inch profiles. Six-inch, with three-by-four downspouts rather than the standard two-by-three, moves substantially more water and is the right answer on larger roofs, steep roofs and anywhere with heavy tree load.

Gutter guards reduce cleaning frequency. They do not eliminate maintenance and no honest company will tell you they do. Fine debris still accumulates, and in heavy rain some guard designs shed water over the front rather than into the gutter.

They make the most sense under heavy tree cover, on tall houses where ladder access is genuinely hazardous, and on homes where the owner is not going to get up there twice a year. We will tell you when we think they are worth it and when we think the money is better spent on properly sized gutter.

By the time gutters have been overflowing for a few years, the fascia behind them is usually soft. Hanging new gutter on rotted fascia accomplishes nothing, because there is nothing solid to fasten to.

We inspect the fascia and soffit condition as part of any gutter quote and tell you what needs replacing. It is a common finding and it is better to know before the work starts than to discover it mid-install.

Seamless gutters are formed on site from a coil of aluminum, cut to the exact length of each run of your roof edge. Because there are no joints along the run, the only places water can escape are the corners and the downspout outlets, which is where we spend our attention.

A proper installation starts with the fascia. If the board behind the old gutter is soft, new gutters hung on it will pull loose within a season, so we check and replace rotted fascia first. Then each run is pitched toward its downspout, hung with hidden hangers spaced close enough to carry snow and ice, and sealed at the corners and end caps.

Spring and summer thunderstorms here can drop a great deal of rain in a short window, and a gutter that is too small simply overflows at the inside corners and valleys. Larger roof areas, steep pitches and valleys that dump into one spot all call for bigger gutters, bigger downspouts or more downspouts.

We look at where water concentrates on your roof before choosing a size, not after. Often the fix for an overflowing gutter is not a new gutter at all but an added downspout or an oversized outlet at the valley.

Repair makes sense when the gutters are sound and the problem is local: a pulled hanger, a leaking corner, a downspout knocked loose. Replacement makes sense when sectional gutters leak at many joints, when runs have sagged and hold standing water, or when hail has dented them badly enough to restrict flow.

If hail damaged your roof, check the gutters and downspouts too. Dents in the gutter are often the easiest evidence of hail size, and gutters are frequently part of a storm claim. Our storm damage page explains the process.

Gutters only move the water. If the downspout dumps it beside the foundation, you have relocated the problem to the basement. We extend downspouts away from the house and point them toward grade that falls away from the foundation.

We install and repair gutters throughout the metro, including eastern Jackson County. Call 816-572-9500 on the Missouri side or 913-281-6000 on the Kansas side.