Repair or Replace Your Gutters? How to Decide on a Charleston Home

One weak joint does not condemn a good gutter. When we walk a house in Mount Pleasant, West Ashley or James Island and find a single bad spot on an otherwise solid run, the honest answer is a repair, and that is what goes on the free written estimate.

• One corner or end cap dripping while the rest of the run stays dry. Resealing it or fitting a new piece is a small job.
• A downspout bumped off by a mower, a car or a falling limb. The bent elbows and sections get replaced and the outlet keeps working.
• A few hangers pulling away from fascia that is still firm. New hidden hangers screwed into good wood bring the run back to the right pitch.
• Water pouring over the edge right beside a downspout. That is usually a clog, and a gutter cleaning with a downspout flush takes care of it.

Fixes like these are everyday work for our gutter repair crews. If the system is sound but keeps filling under pines and live oaks, our maintenance program puts cleanings on a schedule so small problems get caught before they turn into big ones.

When the gutters are coming down anyway, it is the right time to fix whatever was hiding behind them. Our fascia board team replaces soft wood before anything goes back up, and the crew forms seamless gutters on the truck to the length of each run.

Size matters as much as age. We hang 6 inch gutters as our standard on Lowcountry homes and step up to a 7 inch gutter where one large roof plane sends a lot of water to a single run. Our gutter sizes page explains how we choose.

Summer storms find every weak joint

NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals put Charleston International Airport at 52.51 inches of rain in an average year, and 25.79 inches of it falls from June through September. August, at 6.97 inches, is the wettest month on average. A tired joint that barely drips in a spring shower can let go in July, when an afternoon thunderstorm loads the whole system at once. If a gutter overflows every summer, check our cleaning calendar for Charleston first, then look at the size.

Salt air works on the hardware

On Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach and homes along the marsh, salt in the air goes after fasteners, straps and any steel that has lost its coating. Aluminum has no iron in it, so the trough cannot rust, but the screws holding it up can give out first. When a run lets go near the water, we look at every hanger along it, not only the one that broke. Which metals hold up best near salt water is covered on our coastal and raised home gutters page.

Humidity and the wood behind the gutter

Water that gets behind a gutter in this climate does not dry out fast. A slow drip at a seam keeps the fascia damp for weeks, and soft wood cannot hold a hanger no matter how good the gutter is. That is why a sagging run is sometimes a wood problem first and a gutter problem second.

Pine straw and live oak leaves

Packed debris holds water against the metal and adds weight to every hanger. A system that stays clogged wears out much faster than one that stays clear, which is where BroGuard gutter guards earn their place under heavy canopy in Summerville, Goose Creek and Johns Island.

Rain data: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals from NCEI, 1991 to 2020 monthly values for the station at Charleston International Airport.

A well-installed system that is cleaned on schedule or covered with guards can last up to 30 years. Gutters left to fill and overflow tend to give out somewhere between 10 and 15. Most houses land in between, and the clues on the house tell you which way yours is heading. Four quick checks from the ground:

1. Look at the hangers.Spike heads backing out of the face of the gutter point to an older system that is already pulling loose.
2. Find the joints.If you can see seams in the middle of the runs, it is a sectional system, and every one of those seams will need sealing again.
3. Check the paint.A face that has faded or chalked badly is a sign of age, though tired paint alone is never a reason to replace.
4. Look below the roofline.Peeling paint low on the walls, a worn line in the pine straw or a swollen door frame shows where water has been leaving the gutter early.

In neighborhoods with older houses, such as Park Circle, Wagener Terrace and the Old Village, it pays to ask how old the gutters are and how many times they have been patched. On a historic home downtown, preservation staff generally want repair first and in-kind replacement only when repair will not work, so read our historic district gutter guide before ordering anything new. Half-round gutters and copper gutters are common choices on those houses.

One of our Mount Pleasant Solutionists walks every run, checks the pitch and the outlets, presses on the fascia and notes where each downspout lets out. If one section is the problem, the free written estimate says repair. If the whole system is near the end, it says replace, with the reason written down. If it is close, ask for both on the same free written estimate and compare them line by line.

• Repairs listed item by item, so you can see exactly what is being fixed.
• Replacement spelled out run by run, with gutter size, metal, color and every downspout.
• Fascia work and gutter guards on their own lines, so you can add or skip them.
• A water test at the end, so you can watch the repaired or new system drain.

From roughly October through May the schedule is calmer, so either job is easier to book well ahead of the summer storms. For a full replacement, financing through a third-party provider is available, and if BroGuard is installed along with a new seamless system, the whole system is covered by one Limited Lifetime Warranty. New systems go up through our gutter installation service, formed in your driveway by Gabe Gomez’s veteran owned crews.