Repair or replace: how to tell
Repairs make sense when the trouble is in one place: a join that drips, a stop end that's come loose, a bracket that's let a section droop, or a short run that's rusted through where leaves sat for years.
Replacement makes sense when the problem is everywhere. Rust spots along the whole length, flaking paint with bare metal underneath, gutters that still hold water days after rain, or patched sections that keep failing. At that point each repair buys a little time, and the next leak is already on its way.
Look at the fascia too. If the board the gutter is fixed to is soft or rotten, the gutters have to come off to fix it anyway, so it's usually worth doing both together. Our page on fascia and eaves covers that job.
What happens on the day
The roofer or roof plumber takes down the old gutters and downpipes, checks the fascia and fixes new brackets along it. The new gutter is set with a slight fall (the slope that carries water to the outlets), then joined, sealed and finished with stop ends, outlets and downpipes.
The NCC (the national building code) sets the basics: a fall of at least 1:500, brackets at stop ends and corners and no more than 1.2 m apart, and a way for overflow to escape. A good quote won't need reminding.
Most homes get the same shape of gutter they had, in a colour that matches the roof or trim. If you'd like something different, read about gutter profiles and Colorbond and Zincalume gutters before you get quotes.
Internal gutters that sit inside the roof line are a different job, covered on our box gutters page.
Can gutters be too small?
Yes, and it's a real risk. Gutters don't only fail by rusting. If they're too small for the roof feeding them, or there aren't enough downpipes, they overflow in heavy rain even when they're clean.
In Melbourne's storm of 6 March 2010, about 2,000 homes were damaged, mainly because overloaded guttering led to roof leaks and collapses. If your gutters spill over in every big downpour, ask whoever quotes whether the gutter size and number of downpipes suit your roof, rather than simply replacing like with like.
What a gutter replacement quote should include
- The roofer's or plumber's licence or registration number
- Metres of gutter and downpipe being replaced
- The profile and material, by brand and colour name
- Whether the fascia will be checked, and the price if boards need replacing
- Bracket type and how the gutter will be fixed
- How the downpipes connect to the stormwater system
- Removal and disposal of the old gutters
- Workmanship warranty, and whether prices include GST
What you can do, and what needs a pro
You can
- Run a hose along the gutters and watch where water drips, pools or spills
- Photograph rust, sagging and leaks from the ground for the people quoting
- Clear the leaves first, so whoever quotes can see the real condition of the metal
- Reseal a dripping join on a single-storey gutter from a ladder, as a stopgap
Leave to a roofer
- Replacing any run of gutter, or resetting its fall
- Anything above a single storey
- Fascia repairs that mean taking the gutter down
- Connecting downpipes to the stormwater drain
- Box gutters, which sit inside the roof
If it were our house
If the rust is in one or two spots and the rest of the metal is sound, we'd repair it and get a few more years out of it. If it's rusting along the runs, or the fascia behind is soft, we'd replace the gutters and fix the fascia in the same visit, because doing them separately means paying for the gutters to come down twice. And if they overflow even when they're clean, we'd ask for bigger gutters or extra downpipes rather than a like-for-like swap.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.