Gutter corners leaking - what to do?

18 years ago

I had new gutters put on my addition. There are six corners that they angle around, and all the corners leak like crazy in the rain.

I called the gutter company that cleans my gutters twice a year, and the owner told me the corners were all installed wrong. He said the way he does it, he doesn't just make a slightly overlapping miter cut where the gutters meet, then attach them with a single screw and some caulk. (Which is what was done.) He cuts them so they overlap a lot, then screws them in at least four places, and uses silicone caulk to seal them together.

I could hire him to fix the 6 corners (for $100 each, which seems like a lot to me) or I could call back the original installer who would probably just throw some more caulk in; wait for them to leak again; throw some more caulk in..... etc.

On the other hand, a repairman can't add more material if it's been cut away, so I'm not sure what can really be done other than add more caulk and screws. Doesn't seem to be worth $100 per corner.

Any suggestions about the right way to repair these gutters and comments on the cost? I'm in NJ, where things are expensive, but $600 still seems high.

Thanks -

Barbara

Featured Answer

barbara9093
Original Author

18 years ago

I thought about using the original gutter installer to repair the work, but I decided I'd just rather not have him around my house. His workers are careless, and I'm worried that in the process of fixing the gutters they will trash my landscaping or something. I'm not going to use the $100/corner guy either - if caulk will work, why rebuild the corners? So I'm going with a third guy I've found out about who will caulk the gutters and also do some other repair work around my house.

Thanks for all the help, as always!

Barara

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Comments (7)

homebound
18 years ago
I'd call the original installers back. There are ways to repair this, and I'll bet they have experience with repairing the bad work done by some of their installers.

They can "lap" the joint with an adhesive-backed metal that's sold for this purpose. And they can do that in combo with butyl caulk, which I think is preferred (not sure, though).

I repaired some bad joints this way a couple years back and haven't had a leak since.
crableg
18 years ago
Gordy, Mine have those corners, every seam leaks! Have had installer back 3 times, I have given up! let em drip!
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bus_driver
18 years ago
Butyl caulking is one of the most popular sealants for such corners. Silicone comes in close second. $100 per corner is an absolute ripoff. Call the original installer.
Shawwn
18 years ago
They have gutter seam caulk at places like Lowes or Home Depot that will even adhere to the gutters under water and do a very good job at sealing any leaks. Just make sure that the surface is clean (preferably dry if possible). My business involves gutter cleaning and so I naturally end up doing these types of repairs from time to time; so far just using a standard gutter seam sealer applied without any fancy schmancy procedure has produced very satisfied customers.

If you give this a shot please let me know how it works for you.

Shawn
Shawwn
18 years ago
I posted a message above but I also wanted to mention that as far as cost goes, if the gutter repair person is going to redo the seams and overlap the joints like he's talking about, then a hundred bucks a seam is probably a fair price. If he's just going to put caulk on the seams, or use some other simple repair method, then a hundred bucks a corner sounds like quite a bit.
katoo
18 years ago
Ask your third guy to use Butyl sealant or a tar based asphalt sealant and spread it at least 1' past the corner on each side. Also have him check to see if the eavestrough has sufficient slope to allow water to flow quickly toward the downspouts. leaking at the corners may be a sign of standing or accumulating water. You can check yourself. Look at the bottom of the eavestrough and see if it is level with the bottom of the facia plate. you should notice a slight downward angle toward the downspout. More space at one end than the other end.

Hope this helps,

Katoo