Every autumn the same two phone calls start: my gutter is dripping at the corner, and my gutter is overflowing when it rains. They sound similar and they are completely different problems. Here is how to tell them apart from the ground, and what each one costs to put right.
The drip: a failed joint
If water drips from one spot, usually where two lengths of gutter meet, even in light rain, the seal inside that joint has failed. PVC gutters expand and contract with the weather and the rubber seals in the joints give up over time. No amount of cleaning fixes this. The fix is re-sealing the joint, we use Tec7 matched to the gutter colour, with a 1 year guarantee. See our gutter repairs in Dublin page for exact prices, the first joint is €140.
The overflow: a blockage
If water sheets over the front edge of the gutter in heavy rain, or pours down at a corner near the downpipe, the gutter or downpipe is blocked with leaves, moss and silt. The water has nowhere to go so it goes over the top. That is not a repair job, it is a gutter cleaning job, from €65 with a vacuum from the ground.
Why it matters to get it right
An overflowing gutter soaks the wall below it every time it rains, and that is how damp gets into the front room. A dripping joint is slower but does the same job on one patch of wall. Either way the water is landing where it should not, and the fix costs a fraction of a damp repair.
The honest answer on repairs
A re-sealed joint lasts around 3 years. It is a real fix, not a bodge, but on PVC systems the problem eventually comes back because it is built into how the joints work. When a gutter has multiple failing joints, replacement is the better spend and we will tell you so. If you are not sure what you are looking at, we do an in person inspection with a written report for €80, and that comes off the price if we do the repair.
Ring or text 089 406 2271, tell us what the water is doing, and we will tell you which problem you have.