Hung gutters and downspouts
The suburban standard: a trough on hangers at the eaves with spouts to ground level. Most work here is re-hanging for fall, resealing joints, replacing damaged sections and sorting out where the water lands.
Serving Philadelphia County
Gutter Repair and Replacement in Philadelphia
Hung gutters, lined box gutters and downspouts on rowhouses, twins and suburban homes across the service area.
- Flat and low-slope rowhouse roofs
- Parapet, scupper and drain repairs
- Twins, slate and storm-wind damage
- Phones answered 24/7
Get a fast quote
Fastest: call (833) 751-2102. Or send this and we call you back.
Gutters
Gutter Repair and Replacement: what it covers
Quick answer
Gutter work here covers two very different things: hung gutters and downspouts on pitched suburban roofs, and the lined box or facade gutters that carry water off the back of many Philadelphia rowhouses. The second is roofing rather than guttering. Call (833) 751-2102 and a local roofer will say which you have.
On a rowhouse, guttering can be part of the waterproofing. The city's homeowner guide describes two drainage routes from a low-slope roof: a drain that passes through the cornice or parapet as a scupper and joins a downspout outside, or a gutter running along the facade, which is more common at the rear.
That second route means the gutter is the roof's only outlet. If it blocks, splits or loses its fall, water does not simply spill onto a border; it backs up against a membrane termination at the edge of the roof.
On the pitched twins and detached houses of the suburbs the picture is more familiar: hung gutters, downspouts and the odd lined box gutter behind a parapet or between dormers. Both kinds are covered here, and they are quoted differently because they are different work.
- Service area
- Philadelphia & Philadelphia County
- Availability
- Phones answered 24/7
- Phone
- (833) 751-2102
Warning signs
Signs you need gutter repair and replacement
Most gutter accidents are ladder accidents. Working from the top rungs, leaning sideways to reach along a trough, or setting a ladder against a gutter that then gives way are all common, and a box gutter or rear rowhouse gutter usually cannot be reached safely from a ladder at all. Keep clear of overhead service cables when handling a long ladder or a metal section. Do not use a pressure washer into a gutter outlet or a scupper, because it drives water under the covering. Call (833) 751-2102 and have it cleared and tested properly.
- Water sheeting over the front edge of a gutter in rain instead of running along it
- A gutter sagging between hangers or pulling away from the fascia
- Staining or green growth running down the wall below a joint
- Soil washed out, or a trench forming, where a downspout discharges
- Plants growing out of a gutter or a box gutter you cannot see from the ground
- Damp high on a rear wall below the roof edge of a rowhouse
- A downspout that stays dry in heavy rain, which usually means a blockage above it
Our process
How our gutter repair and replacement visit works
Establish what the gutter is doing
The roofer works out whether it is a secondary drainage detail on a pitched roof or the primary outlet for a low-slope roof. That answer changes everything about how urgent and how involved the repair is.
Clear and flood test
Debris comes out of the trough and the outlet, then water is run through so the fall and the discharge can be watched. A gutter that holds water when it is clean has a fall or a hanger problem, not a leaf problem.
Check the lining and the joints on a box gutter
A lined box gutter is a waterproofing detail with a timber or masonry structure underneath. The roofer looks at the lining, the laps, the upstand under the covering and the condition of the boards the whole thing is sitting on.
Follow the water to the ground
Downspouts, leader heads and the point of discharge are checked, because a perfect gutter feeding a blocked spout or a spout dumping against a foundation has only moved the problem. Where the water goes at ground level is part of the job.
Repair or replace, then re-test
Joints, hangers, sections or a lining are repaired or renewed, the fall is reset, and water goes through again before the roofer leaves. On a rear rowhouse gutter the membrane termination at the roof edge is re-checked as well.
Why does a blocked rear gutter cause damp inside a rowhouse?
Because on many of these houses it is the roof's outlet rather than an accessory. When water cannot leave along the gutter it backs up against the edge of the roof covering and stands against the top of a masonry wall, and both of those are routes into the top floor of the house.
A hung gutter on a suburban eaves overflows outward and makes a mess of a flower bed. A gutter formed at the edge of a low-slope roof overflows inward and upward, against a termination that was never designed to be submerged.
That is why clearing it is maintenance rather than tidying. It is also why damp on a rear bedroom wall is worth a look at the gutter before anyone starts talking about the membrane in the middle of the roof.
What is a box gutter and why is it a roofing job?
A box gutter is a trough built into the roof structure, usually lined, often hidden behind a parapet or at the back of a house. Unlike a hung gutter it cannot simply be unclipped and replaced: the lining is part of the waterproofing and the timber beneath it carries load.
They fail quietly. The lining splits or a lap opens, water goes into the boards instead of along the trough, and nothing is visible from the garden until the ceiling below stains or the fascia starts to go. By then the structure often needs attention as well as the lining.
Repairs therefore begin with opening it up enough to see the condition of what is underneath. On older houses in Germantown, Mount Airy and the Main Line, box gutters between dormers or behind a parapet are common on larger pitched roofs, and they reward being looked at before they leak rather than after.
Do gutters have to be replaced when the roof is?
Not always, but they have to be dealt with. A re-roof involves the eaves or the roof edge, so gutters are usually taken off or adjusted, and their condition should be settled in the quote. Doing worn gutters at the same time avoids paying twice to handle the same edge.
Fixing a new covering over a gutter that will need replacing in a season or two also risks disturbing the new edge detail later. If they are sound, they go back; if they are sagging, split or rusted through, that is the moment.
On a low-slope roof the same logic applies to the outlet. If the drainage is being reworked as part of a flat roof replacement, the gutter, the scupper and the downspout are designed as one system rather than inherited from whatever was there.
Where should the water end up?
Away from the building, at a point that will not simply feed it back. A downspout discharging straight against a wall or into a blocked ground drain keeps a foundation wet all winter, which is a basement problem rather than a roof one, but it starts at roof level.
On a narrow attached lot there is often very little ground to work with, and the discharge point is whatever the street, the yard or the shared alley allows. That is worth looking at while a roofer is there, because the fix is sometimes as simple as an extension or a reset splash block.
Seasonal timing helps too. Leaves fill troughs through autumn in the tree-covered blocks of Mount Airy, Cheltenham and Wayne, and a gutter that is clear before winter is a gutter less likely to freeze solid and overflow during a thaw.
Options
Types and options for gutter repair and replacement
Lined box and facade gutters
Built into the structure at the back of a rowhouse or behind a parapet, and lined rather than simply hung. These are roofing repairs: the lining, its laps and the junction with the roof covering all have to be watertight, and a failure shows up inside the house.
Scupper and outside downspout
The other drainage route the city's guide describes, where the roof drain passes through the cornice or parapet and joins a downspout on the outside wall. The gutter work and the roof outlet are one system, and roof drain and scupper repair covers the roof side of it.
Philadelphia County
Why gutter repair and replacement is different in Greater Philadelphia
Two housing types, two gutter problems. The attached brick rows of South Philadelphia, Fishtown and Chester drain at the rear or through a scupper, so gutter faults become interior damp; the twins and detached houses of Haverford, Abington, Collingswood and Cherry Hill have conventional hung gutters where faults show up outside.
Tree cover is the local maintenance driver. Mature street and garden trees over roofs in Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, Cheltenham and the Main Line fill troughs and outlets with leaf litter and seed, and the same wind that strips the leaves also brings down twigs that jam an outlet.
Winter is unpredictable rather than severe. Philadelphia gets some snow most winters in widely varying totals, and no snowfall figure is published on this site because the sources conflicted. What matters practically is that a blocked gutter or outlet going into a freeze is the one that overflows on the thaw.
One call and it gets handled.
Most gutter repair and replacement calls are scheduled the same day when a technician is free, and you approve the price before any work starts.
Where we work
Gutter Repair and Replacement across Philadelphia County
- Gutters in Center City
- Gutters in Queen Village and Bella Vista
- Gutters in Fishtown and Kensington
- Gutters in Lansdowne
- Gutters in Collingswood
- Gutters in Lower Merion
- Gutters in Chestnut Hill
- Gutters in Northeast Philadelphia
- Gutters in Abington Township
- Gutters in Chester
- Gutters in Old City and Society Hill
- Gutters in University City
- Gutters in Camden
- Gutters in Germantown
- Gutters in Manayunk and Roxborough
- Gutters in Mount Airy
- Gutters in Cheltenham Township
- Gutters in Springfield Township
- Gutters in Conshohocken
- Gutters in Wayne
- Gutters in Northern Liberties
- Gutters in South Philadelphia
- Gutters in West Philadelphia
- Gutters in Pennsauken
- Gutters in Upper Darby
- Gutters in Haverford Township
- Gutters in Cherry Hill
- Gutters in Ridley Park
- Gutters in Media
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Related
Related services
Roof Drain and Scupper Repair
Clearing, resealing and re-detailing the outlets that take water off a low-slope rowhouse roof.
Shingle Roof Repair
Slope repairs, replacement courses and flashing work on pitched asphalt roofs across the suburbs and the twin-house neighbourhoods.
Roof Inspection
A documented look at the roof, its drainage and its details before you buy, after a storm, or before you commit to work.
Flat Roof Repair
Repairs to flat and very low-slope membrane roofs on Philadelphia rowhouses, twins and converted buildings, starting at the drainage path.
Guides
Read before you book
What Isaias Taught Philadelphia Roofs About Wind
Tropical Storm Isaias crossed the Philadelphia area on 4 August 2020.
FAQ
Gutter Repair and Replacement FAQs
Are gutter guards worth fitting?
They can reduce how often a trough fills, but they are not maintenance-free and some types make a blockage harder to see and to clear. On a roof where the gutter is the only outlet, being able to inspect it easily matters more than keeping leaves out.
How often should gutters be cleared here?
At least after leaf fall, and again before summer storms on a roof with trees over it. On a rowhouse where the gutter is the roof's drainage, a look after any heavy rain is sensible because that is when a partial blockage shows itself.
Can a section be replaced rather than the whole run?
Often yes on a hung gutter, provided the profile matches and the rest of the run still has fall. On a lined box gutter a part repair depends on the state of the lining and the timber, which is a judgement made once it is opened up.
Why is water coming out of the middle of a gutter joint?
Usually a failed seal or a movement at a hanger that has opened the lap, sometimes a trough that now falls the wrong way after a sag. Clearing and flood testing shows which, because the leak point in dry weather is not always obvious.
Is the gutter mine or shared on an attached house?
It depends on the house and the deeds, and runs that cross a party wall are common. Practically, a shared run means telling the neighbour before work starts, since a repair at one end can change how water behaves at the other.
Do you fit gutters on new work only, or repair old ones?
Both. Repair first where the run is sound, because re-hanging for fall and resealing joints often restores a gutter that looked finished. Replacement is for runs that are split, corroded through or no longer able to hold a fixing.