How to Repair Gutters: A Must-Read for Homeowners

When it’s hard to make ends meet, but you must maintain your home, learning to repair your gutters can be a significant money-saver. Clean gutters will direct water and debris away from your house and help you avoid costly water damage. With the right tools and a little elbow grease, you could repair your gutters so they are brand new and well-functioning, just the way they should!

Gutters will help protect your home, but damage from inclement weather, falling trees, or seasonal debris can create wear and tear over the years. Gutters cannot perform their job unless homeowners maintain them.

Whether you have a small dent in your gutters or are missing an entire gutter run, this must-read gutter repair guide for homeowners will teach you exactly what you need to do to repair your gutters and save money.

Just a word of caution: not every homeowner has the skills and tools necessary to repair their home’s exterior. If you are not a fan of heights, have a medical condition that limits your physical abilities, or are unskilled with home improvements, you may want to call in a professional to repair your gutters to avoid the risk of bodily harm and injury.

Average Costs of Gutter Repair in the United States

A few factors determine the average cost of repairing gutters, include whether the gutters are seamless or not, the material of the gutters, and the extent of any gutter damage.

Much of the entire cost for professional gutter repair lies in the materials, expertise, and time needed to make repairs and the expertise. So long as you have access to the necessary tools, equipment, and experience, you can drastically reduce the overall cost when you DIY your own gutter repair.

Please remember that not all average costs consider the tools and resources needed to perform the gutter cleaning. These costs consider only the gutter material if you need to replace a section of your gutters.

Gutter Material Type	Average Cost Per Linear Foot (Material Only)
Aluminum	$4 – $8
Vinyl or PVC	$3 – $6
Steel	$6 – $9
Copper	$15 – $28
Wood	$18 – $28

If you have seamless gutters, we only recommend making the repairs yourself if those repairs are minimal, like slight bending or refastening of loose gutters. Making massive repairs or partial replacements to seamless gutters may require professional experience and tools most homeowners do not have readily available.

Types of Repairs and How To Complete Them

Sometimes, it is tough to know when you need to repair your gutters. Other times, it’s glaring and obvious. Bent, detached, leaky, and overflowing are all annoyances. If you start to see mosquitoes taking over your property in the spring and summer, excess mold and damage to your patio or deck surfaces, or staining down your siding or other exterior surfaces, it’s time to take a look at your gutters to see if they are functioning properly.

While this list compares and provides instructions on repairing the most common gutter issues, it may not include every potential gutter issue. However, we will cover the most common gutter concerns that most homeowners can successfully tackle.

Bent Gutters

There are many reasons gutters can bend. Fallen branches, precipitation buildup, and leaf accumulation can cause gutters to bend outward. When those bent gutters finally get to see some rain, you might find that water spills over the edge of your gutters instead of following the downspouts.

Materials needed:

Ladder
Ladder stabilizer
Personal safety equipment
Rubber mallet
Wood block

Repair steps:

Remove any loose debris from inside the gutter. You want to have a clean and clear space to begin your home repair.
Assess the damage. Will pounding out a small dent be enough to fix the gutters, or will you need to replace the section? Make an assessment based on what you see and create a game plan.
Place a wood block on the inside of the dent.
With caution, use a rubber mallet to gently bang the dent out with the gutter between the mallet and the wood block until it is once again flush.

Pro Tip: Install gutter hanging clamps inside your gutters to avoid more denting and damage to the gutter surface. If your gutter system is old or in extremely poor condition, you may need to go forward with a replacement. However, for smaller concerns, this can be a manageable solution. Research the clamps and decide if they are the best investment for your time and money.

Loose Gutter Runs

Over time, wind, rain, and snow can loosen your gutter runs from the fascia board. Loose gutters could allow water to spill over the edge and into your expensive planter beds, down the sides of your home, and into your home’s foundation or basement.

However, with a ladder and a screwdriver, you can manually tighten the loose gutter runs so that they function properly once more. Let’s get to it!

Materials needed:

Ladder
Ladder stabilizer
Personal safety equipment
Screwdriver
Hammer

Repair steps:

Clear your gutters of old leaves, twigs, and debris for a clean and tidy workspace.
If possible, inspect your home’s fascia for decay or rot, which can result in loose gutters. If that is the case, you will need to replace your gutters and fascia board. This requires more than a simple DIY repair job, so you may need to call the professionals.
Locate the fasteners that attach your gutters to your home’s fascia board. Inspect whether the gutter is fastened to the fascia board by gutter screws, clamps, nails, or something else.
If possible, reattach or tighten the screws, clamps, or nails to see if that fixes your loose gutters. If it does not, repair them, You may need to assess your fascia board, use a different support method, or consider using anchors.

Leaking Gutters

If you have leaky gutters, it could be due to many things. Your gutters may be broken, the sealant may be cracked, the gutters may be full of debris, or they require a deep maintenance cleaning. Either way, let’s fix them.

Materials needed:

Bucket
Garden hose
Ladder
Ladder stabilizer
Personal safety equipment
Screwdriver
Caulk gun
Gutter sealant

Repair steps:

Clean out all gutter debris, including leaves, twigs, branches, dirt, and seeds. Use your garden hose to test the gutters once cleaned and see if that solves your leaking issues. If not, try to locate where the leak is coming from and proceed to the next step.
Inspect the seams, end caps, and downspout outlets in your gutter basins where they appear to be leaking to ensure that the sealant remains intact. Also, check for any damage, puncture holes, or loose rivets in the gutter sections.
Remove any old, cracked sealant from the area and reapply gutter sealant to the leaking seams. Allow it to dry completely. If the weather in your area is calling for rain, be sure to plan for accurate drying time.
If the leakage is due to loose screws, locate those screws and retighten them.
Be sure to test your gutters once you are done to ensure your gutters are performing effectively.

Overflowing Gutters

Overflowing gutters could be due to bent outward edges of the gutter runs, allowing rainwater to spill out. It could also be due to clogged gutters requiring cleaning and maintenance. If it’s not one of those easier fixes, it could be that you have the wrong size gutters for the amount of precipitation your area gets, or the original installation did not call for the correct slope and/or tilt for your gutter runs.

Let’s check the easy stuff before moving on to the overflowing reasons that may need a pro.

Materials needed:

Ladder
Ladder stabilizer
Personal safety equipment
Garden hose
Level

Repair Steps:

Clean your gutters thoroughly. Remove all the built-up dirt and debris. Using your garden hose, spray ample water onto the roof, allowing it to run down into the gutters, and see if the water overflows. Depending on how much water your hose passes, you may need help to tell.
Inspect your gutters for dents. If you see any, use the steps above to remedy that issue. If no dents are visible, proceed to the next step.
Using your level, check how straight your gutters are horizontally from the starting point down toward the downspouts. The bubble should be slightly off-center toward the starting point opposite the gutters. If the bubble is level or on the opposite side, your gutter runs need to be draining properly and could be trapping water, allowing it to overflow. The remedy for this is to remove them, measure the correct gutter slope and reattach them. See the “Missing Gutters” section below for more detailed instructions.
Set your level so it measures from the fascia board outward. If the gutters are tilted downward and away from the fascia board, the gutters can overflow during heavy rainfalls. Consider installing gutter hanging clamps to ensure the gutters keep their shape. If tilting outward, check to ensure the gutters are not loose from the fascia board and require retightening. See the “Loose Gutters” instruction above.

Missing Gutters

Maybe the most recent storm in your area has taken a piece of your gutters off completely or over time, the gutter has just fallen due to rotted fascia or a direct impact from a tree. Replace those missing gutter runs to keep the water from damaging your home’s structural elements.

Replacing missing gutter sections is like installing brand-new ones.

Materials needed:

Ladder
Ladder stabilizer
Personal safety equipment
Garden hose
Measuring tape
Chalk line
Level
Gutter section
Screws
Screwdriver or impact driver with the correct bit
Rivet gun
Gutter flashing if needed
Caulk gun
Sealant

Chalk line

Level
Gutter section
Screws
Screwdriver or impact driver with the correct bit
Rivet gun
Gutter flashing if needed
Caulk gun
Sealant

Repair steps:

Clear the gutters to the left and right of the missing piece from all debris, dirt, and dust. If needed, flush it out with your garden hose.
Measure the gutter void on the house and snap a chalk line from the bottom of the gutter on the high side to the bottom of the gutter on the side toward the downspout to get the proper slope. Use your level to ensure the new chalk line is sloped ¼-½ inch for every 10 feet of gutter. The bubble should be slightly over the line on the high side of your gutter.
Overlap the new gutter piece with each section of the existing gutter by 2 to 4 inches. Depending on manufacturer instructions, you may need to screw the pieces together or use a rivet gun and pop rivets.
Attach the gutter to the fascia board using 1 ¼ hex-head sheet metal screws and caulk the seams with water-proof gutter caulk. Allow it to dry completely.
Inspect any existing gutter flashing to see if it is bending down from under the shingles and in front of the back edge of the gutter. If it is missing or nonrepairable, install new flashing.
Once dry, test your gutter section installation with the garden hose to ensure the seams do not leak and that you have installed the flashing correctly.

Congratulations! You are now a gutter-repair pro!

Remember that climbing a ladder and performing work at dangerous heights can harm your health and well-being. If you are not comfortable or have little experience repairing gutters or other home improvement tasks, consider calling a professional gutter repair company like Ned Stevens to take care of it. Remember, you can’t put a price on life itself.