PVC gutter repairs — full or part replacements
Most gutter problems are a joint or a bracket, and most are repaired. The page below is honest about when they are not.
What a gutter repair involves
- Finding where the water is actually coming from — often a joint upstream of the drip
- Replacing perished rubber seals, or the union, corner or stop end they sit in
- Re-fixing or replacing loose, broken or missing brackets
- Re-setting the fall so water runs to the outlet instead of standing in the run
- Replacing a cracked or chalky section with matching profile and colour
- Checking the fascia behind for rot before new brackets go into it
A joint, not a gutter.
PVC guttering nearly always leaks at a union, a corner or a stop end. A new seal or fitting is the repair. The run itself is usually fine.
Repair, part replacement or the lot?
Three answers, and what points to each.
Repair
A drip at one or two joints, a loose bracket, a stop end that has popped off. The plastic is still flexible and the colour is even. The cheapest answer and the most common.
Part replacement
One run has gone brittle, been hit by a ladder or crushed by snow, while the rest is sound. The damaged length is replaced in a matching profile.
Full replacement
The plastic has gone chalky and cracks when touched, several joints leak at once, or the fascia has rotted and the brackets have nothing to hold. Often done together with new fascia and soffit.
Questions about gutter repairs
Why does my gutter leak at the joints and nowhere else?
Because that is how PVC guttering is made. Lengths of plastic are joined by unions with a rubber seal inside, and the seal is the part that ages. Sun hardens it, frost shrinks it, and the gutter moving with heat works it loose. The plastic lengths themselves last far longer than the seals between them.
Can a new section be matched to the old?
Usually. Half-round, square and ogee profiles in black, white, brown and grey are all current, and most older systems have a close equivalent. Where a very old or unusual profile cannot be matched, the honest answer is to replace that whole run, and that is what the quote will say.
Does replacing the gutter mean replacing the fascia?
Only if the fascia is rotten. Brackets screw into the fascia board, and a bracket in soft timber will not hold. A sound timber or uPVC fascia stays. A rotten one is replaced first, because new guttering on a rotten board is a job done twice.
Why is my gutter holding water when it is not blocked?
It has lost its fall. Guttering should drop gently towards the outlet; when brackets sag or the fascia moves, low spots form and water sits in them, breeding moss and adding weight. Re-setting the brackets to the right line is the repair.
Other services
Gutter leak & downpipe repairs
Dripping joints, split or blocked downpipes, loose brackets, and the damp patch on the wall underneath.
Gutter cleaning service
Clearing leaves, moss and silt so rainwater goes down the pipe and not over the edge.
Roof repairs
Slipped, cracked and missing tiles, ridge and verge pointing, flashing and the leaks they let in.
Moss removal
Taking moss off the roof before it blocks the gutters, holds water against the tiles and lifts them.
Free inspections & quotes
A free look at the roof and gutters, what was found explained, and a quote before any work is agreed.