If you have water leaking from your gutter into your house you might see something like this…
That’s the start of some serious water damage in your ceiling…
The good news is that if it’s your gutters causing the ceiling leak then it’s usually only 1 of 3 possible problems…
And it is possible to fix it yourself…
So let’s run through the 3 ways your gutters could cause a roof leak and how to fix them…
Ok, let’s get into it…
Water is Leaking From Your Gutters into Your House Because You Need to Get Them Cleaned…
The ol’ dirty gutter is usually the main culprit when you notice a ceiling leak close to the wall…
Your gutters could be so full of debris that the water has nowhere to go but to spill out and flood your ceiling and wall…
How can your gutters collect the water if they look like this?
They can’t!!
That’s why the first step in stopping water leaking from the gutter into your house is to make sure your gutters are clean…
You can do this yourself or you can hire a gutter cleaning service to do it for you…
Either way, usually after you have them cleaned out properly, the damage to your ceiling will dry up and you can have it repaired…
Now, if you get up to inspect your gutters and find that they are pretty much clear, then the next thing to check is…
Make sure your gutters aren’t causing a roof leak because your downpipes are blocked…
Another common issue I come across with gutters that cause ceiling leaks is that there will be a small build up over the top of a downpipe or possible even dirt completely filling the outlet into your downpipe…
In this picture below, these box gutters were pretty much empty but the outlet to the downpipe was completely blocked up with leaves…
The good news is, this is an easy fix…
Just reach in there and pull those leaves and dirt out…
Something like this can cause your gutters to overflow…
If you live in an area with trees, you’ll have to keep an eye on your gutters and downpipes every 4 months just to make sure your downpipes stay clear…
Now, if you’ve checked your gutters and downpipes and they seem to be clear, then maybe this next one is your problem…
Your gutters are falling the wrong way…
You’d be surprised at how many gutters I clean that are falling the wrong way…
If the rain water falls away from your downpipes, it will pool in your gutters and eventually leak into your wall and ceiling…
It’s easy to find out if your gutters are falling the wrong way but not so easy to fix…
You can get a spirit level like this one here…
Go around and place the level under the gutter to make sure it’s falling towards the downpipes…
If the downpipe is to the left of your level and the bubble on the level is to the right, then your gutters are falling the right way…
If the bubble is level or to the left, then your gutters need to be adjusted…
In this situation, you’ll probably need to call a plumber to reset your gutters…
This can be a big job so it’s best left to the professionals…
The good news is, those 3 are usually the main cause of water leaking from your gutters into your house…
But there is one more thing to consider…
Is it really your gutters causing the ceiling leak or is it your roof?
I get calls all the time from homeowners saying that their gutters are causing a roof leak or that their gutters are leaking into the wall..
The truth is, most times that I see water leaking into your home from your gutters, it’s usually a roof problem not a gutter problem…
Now, I do say usually, because sometimes the gutters are the cause of your roof leak…
Most times, it’s your roof that’s leaking…
So, as a little bonus I’m going to share with you some of the roof problems that would make you think your gutters are causing your roof leak…
Flat tiles on a low pitch cause leaks near the gutters…
If you have roof tiles like these ones here…
You really need to be careful…
These guys are very deceptive…
They let water leak into your ceiling but they make it look like the gutters are to blame…
The problem is that they are too flat and dirt gets into the grooves where the tiles overlap…
When rain flows over these types of roof tiles, some of it will flow between the tiles and into your ceiling…
This water damage above was caused by these types of roof tiles…
It’s the home of one of my gutter cleaning clients. They called me because they thought their gutter was causing their ceiling leak…
But it wasn’t the gutters
I sent a picture to my roofing buddy and he said straight away that those flat tiles always leak…
The solution??
You can either take each tile off one by one and give them a scrub…
Get all that dirt out of the grooves and it might possibly stop the leak…
Yep, it might stop the leak!!
The other option is to change your roof completely…
This is definitely the best option and the one that I recommend but there is a cheaper but less permanent option…
I’ve had some great results using a storm sealant to seal where the tiles overlap…
Don’t use silicone, use something like this…
I’ve done this for homeowners who are struggling to get a roofer and it works wonders in the short term…
How long it lasts, I don’t know but it did instantly stop the leaks…
Now if you have a metal roof instead of tiles, this next one’s for you…
Raised roof sheets cause water to leak into the ceiling and wall…
Now, I’m not talking about lifting roof sheets that expose your ceiling to the elements…
This is rarely the case…
I’m talking about roof sheets that raise slightly as they reach the gutter…
That’s exactly what’s happening here with this metal roof…
I’m actually holding this sheet down and you can see that the screw is raised up…
If the roof sheet is slightly raised, as the rain water flows over the end and into the gutter, some of the water will run under and back along the sheet…
See how the ends of the sheet are bent down?
That’s to eliminate this water running back under the sheet…
The problem with this roof is that the screws that hold this sheet in place have missed the fixing timber below so they can’t pull the sheet down properly…
The result is a slight lift in the sheet but just enough to let the water roll back under the roofline and leak into the wall…
This was an easy fix…
I simply moved the screws forward about 10mm and sealed the old screw holes…
Problem solved…
Now the water flows off the roof sheet and into the gutter…
So there you have it….
That should be all you need to solve your gutter and roof leaking problems…
I’ve stopped many mysterious ceiling leaks over the years by using these techniques I mentioned above…
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll see if I can help…
Thank you for spending your time with me today…
I wish you all the best with your ceiling leaks…
Sincerely,
Jason – The Guy Who’s Seen So Many Ceiling Leaks It’s Not Funny!!