De Soto Gutter Replacement & Gutter Guard Installation

Diagnosing overflow versus a leak

These two get treated as the same complaint and they have almost nothing in common. A leak drips when there is water in the gutter, including light rain, and the drip comes from a specific point: a seam, a miter, an end cap, a fastener hole. Find the point and you have found the job. Overflow only happens in heavy rain, comes over the edge along a length rather than at a point, and stops the moment the rain eases. It means water is arriving faster than the system can move it away. The causes are a short list: too few downspouts, undersized gutter for the roof area, a blockage in the outlet or the downspout, or lost pitch so water is not reaching the outlet at all. It is worth watching the house during a real downpour once, because the two look identical afterward when everything is wet. Homeowners frequently pay for resealing on a system that never leaked, then watch it overflow again at the next storm. The direction of the water tells you which one you have.