If you look outside and ponder to yourself “why do my gutters drip?”, then I’m about to tell you why and maybe even give you some tips on how to fix that concerning drip…
Let’s get into it…
The most common reason why your gutters drip is due to clogged gutters…
If you haven’t cleaned your gutters in a while, debris will build up and slow or stop the flow of water out of your gutters and into your downspouts…
The water can’t get out quick enough so it starts to drip…
So the easiest way to fix your gutter drip is to get them cleaned…
But what do you do if your gutters are clean but they still drip?
Simply put, if your gutter is clean but it still drips, you have a combination of 2 things…
Firstly, your gutter has water sitting in it…
And secondly, the silicone joints in your gutters have come apart…
I bet if you peek into your gutter right now, you’ll have a pool of water sitting right where the drip is…
And the drip will be on a joint right?
Yep, it’s always the way…
What happens is, your gutters are holding water and overtime, the water has destroyed your silicone seal, which causes your gutters to leak…
Anytime you have a dripping gutter, you always have these two problems coming together…
Ok, so it’s pretty simple to see why your gutters are dripping but I bet you’re wondering why there’s water just sitting in your gutters…
Well, this leaking gutter combination has two causes…
And knowing which one is the cause of your leaky gutter will determine how you fix it…
Let’s see which one you have…
The first one is…
Your Dripping Gutters Could be Caused by Blocked Gutters and Downpipes…
This one is pretty common…
You see, if you have even the smallest build up of leaves and debris sitting in your gutters, it can stop rain water from flowing out and into your downpipe…
The water will back up and sit in your gutters…
When the water sits there for long periods, it will eventually mix with dirt, leaves and animal poop which makes this nasty, soupy mess…
Then it’s at about this point that your gutter seams start to come apart…
Now sometimes most of the water will eventually escape but your gutters are filled with dried up soupy mess which is commonly referred to as gutter soil…
You’ll get this type of situation…
This is high quality top soil and will eventually lead to this…
When you have a build up in your gutters like this, the soil will hold some of the water and the combination of dirt and water will eat away at your silicone gutter joints…
So you might not have a pool of water sitting in your gutter but, the little mud pie you have festering in there mixed with the roots from your gutter garden are together, holding enough moisture to cause a leak…
Make sense??
Ok great…
So how do you fix it?
The easiest way to fix this type of gutter drip is to get your gutters cleaned and then have your joints resealed…
And to have the joints resealed properly, you’ll need to remove all of the old silicone and clean away all of the dirt in your gutters…
The joint has to be taken apart, cleaned out properly and then re siliconed…
You can use a silicone that you pick up from Bunnings or the local hardware store…
If your silicone skills aren’t up to scratch, you might need a Plumber for this one…
Just know that the plumber won’t clean your gutters…
He’ll only fix the dripping gutter…
So you’ll need to get your gutters cleaned first…
But what about if your gutters are completely clean and you still have water sitting in them?
Well that leads to our next reason why your gutters drip…
Your Gutters Drip Because They’re Sloping the Wrong Way…
This is more common than you think…
You see, your gutters are supposed to be sloping down towards the down spout…
So when it rains, the water will travel down and into the downspout…
It’s logical…
The thing is, sometimes your gutters can be installed where they are falling away from your downspout or they are sitting flat…
Either way, the rain water can’t travel up a gutter so it sits in your gutter and eventually starts to drip…
You know it’s been dripping for a while when it looks like this…
The tell tale sign is the “gunky” looking joint and the swollen fascia board that is starting to split…
In a new house, you can blame the plumber for this one…
He’s most likely installed the gutters with the wrong slope…
If your house is new, call your builder and tell him your gutters are falling the wrong way and they need to be reset…
The plumber will have to fix his mistake…
If you have an older home, your gutters may have begun to sag in spots…
Overtime, things start to shift and move…
This can’t be avoided…
Your gutters could have been installed perfectly but over the years, your house moves and settles, your gutters and fascia boards expand and contract in the extreme weather…
You can’t blame anyone, it’s just how it is…
But now your gutters have low spots and they may even be sloping away from your downspout…
And the silicone in your gutter joints has also copped a fair amount of abuse…
All of this leads to that drip you can now see coming from your gutter…
It might be time to get new gutters installed…
If your gutters are still in a pretty good condition, you could just get them realigned…
Either way, you’ll need to get a plumber to do this for you…
He’ll take your gutters down and slope them towards the downpipes…
And all of your silicone joints will be cleaned and resealed so no more gutter drips…
Problem solved…
But what if the drip isn’t coming from a joint but right in the middle of your gutters??
Well, you my friend might have a very extraordinary situation…
Some things just can’t be explained…
Lucky for you, I’m just teasing and your leaking gutter can definitely be explained…
Why do Your Gutters Drip if They’re Clean and Falling the Right Way?
Well, this is usually the case if you have some rust holes in your gutter…
You’ll get little holes and the water will slowly drip out…
And there’s usually 2 ways that your gutters rust…
The first is that for a period of time, your gutters weren’t clean and you had dirt and water sitting in your gutters causing them to rust…
That’s why it’s important to get your gutters cleaned every year…
It prevents the “Rusty Gutter Syndrome”…
No rusty gutter equals no dripping gutter…
And the second way that your gutters rust out is if you have an aircon unit that drips into your gutter…
That spot where the unit drips, can cause a rust spot that will lead to a hole in your gutter…
It’s like Chinese water torture for your gutters…
The constant drip, drip, drip for months…
All day every day…
Drip, drip, drip…
Then your gutters literally crack…
How do we fix this dripping gutter problem?
You’ll need an air con plumber to redirect the air con run off pipe so it doesn’t drip into your gutter, then you’ll need a roof plumber to replace that section of your gutter…
That’s it…
Good as new…
I think we’ve covered every possible reason why your gutters drip…
Now you just need to work out which one it is…
Start by making sure your gutters are clean and flowing properly…
Then get the offending joint resealed…
If that’s not it, then maybe your gutters are sloping the wrong way…
Call a plumber to realign them for you…
If that’s not it then you could possibly have rusted sections of gutter that need to be replaced…
You’ll usually be able to solve your leaking gutter problem with one of these solutions…
Now go get a ladder and stop that dripping gutter…
If you have any questions, leave a comment below…
I’ll see if I can help…
That’s it from me…
Peace,
Jason…
FAQ
Your gutters drip because they are clogged and need to be cleaned. They could also drip because of faulty silicone joints or holes in your gutters…
To stop your gutters from dripping you need to get them cleaned and make sure all downpours are clear. Then you’ll need to replace parts of your gutters that have holes and re-seal any old silicone joints…
Your gutters could be dripping from the front because they are blocked, the rain can’t flow into the downspout so it strips over the lowest part of your gutters which is usually the front. You gutters could also be slumping in that section that is dripping…
Your gutter drips when it’s not raining because it’s holding water. The reason for this could be that your gutters are clogged so the water can’t seascape or your gutters could be falling the wrong way so the water can’t flow to the down pipe…
