Norwalk Gutter Replacement & Gutter Guard Installation

How overflow gets into walls and windows

Water coming over the front of a gutter falls clear of the house and is mostly a landscaping and foundation problem. Water going over the back is a building problem, and the two look nearly identical from the ground. Behind the gutter is the fascia, and behind that is the end of the roof structure and the top of the wall. Water that gets in there does not run out anywhere obvious. It travels along framing, and it appears as a stain on a ceiling several feet from where it entered, or as a damp patch above a window header on the floor below, or as peeling paint on the interior of an exterior wall. Because the appearance is so far removed from the cause, this gets diagnosed as a roof leak or a window seal failure remarkably often, and both get replaced without fixing anything. The tell is timing. A roof leak follows any significant rain. Overflow behind a gutter follows heavy rain specifically, and it stops in light rain. Where a leak appears only after downpours, the gutter is the first place to look.