Who to hire for gutters that overflow

Short answer

A roof plumber or roofer. Start with cleaning, because leaves are the cause most of the time — but if they overflow when clean, the problem is the fall, the downpipe capacity or the gutter profile itself, and that is a replacement rather than a service.

Soon, not tonightIt will not usually get cheaper by waiting, and it is rarely worth an after-hours rate.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a Roofer.

  • a plumber

    the water is getting away from the gutter but backing up at ground level. That is stormwater, not roofing.

  • an arborist

    the same tree fills them every autumn. Cleaning twice a year forever is a price; pruning the tree is a decision.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Watch them in rain. Where they overflow tells you why: overflowing at the ends is fall, at the middle is a sag, and at a downpipe is a blockage.
  2. Look for water marks on the fascia and staining down the wall below — they tell you this has been going on longer than you think.
  3. Check where the downpipes go. A downpipe discharging onto the ground beside the footings is doing damage even when the gutter is fine.

What to ask when you book

  • Is this debris, fall, or capacity? If capacity, what profile and how many downpipes do I need?
  • Are the brackets and the fascia sound, or has water been sitting against them?
  • Do you install gutter guard, and what kind — the mesh types differ a lot in how they handle heavy rain versus leaves.

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Clean versus re-hang versus replace.
  • Length of guttering and number of downpipes.
  • Fascia condition — rotted timber fascia behind a gutter turns this into carpentry.
  • Height and access.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Gutters, downpipes and roof drainage are roof plumbing, which is licensed plumbing work in several states. Discharge to stormwater is also regulated.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for gutters that overflow
A roof plumber or roofer. Start with cleaning, because leaves are the cause most of the time — but if they overflow when clean, the problem is the fall, the downpipe capacity or the gutter profile itself, and that is a replacement rather than a service.
Is gutter guard worth it?
It genuinely reduces cleaning frequency under trees, and the poorer products create their own problem by shedding water over the front of the gutter in heavy rain or by trapping a mat of fine debris on top. Ask what happens in a downpour, not just what happens with leaves, and ask whether it can still be cleaned when it eventually needs to be.
How often should gutters be cleaned?
It depends entirely on what is above them. A house with no overhanging trees might manage for years; a house under a gum needs it at least twice a year, and before a fire season if you are anywhere near bush. The honest test is looking, not a schedule.

Find a Roofer near you

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Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.