Landscaper Causes Gutter Overflow

My last entry ended with a customer who complained that all her gutters were clogged and she needed us to clean out the gutters. She also had a new bay window installed and it was leaking. She thought the gutters had something to do with it. When we arrived there, we found that she just had new landscaping and the landscaper closed off all her underground drainage outlets so the downspouts were backing up and overflowing the gutters. At the customers request we removed a gutter cover near a downspout and found the gutters to be completely open and very clean. The customers Waterloov gutter guards didn't fail her, the landscaper did because he left her with gutters that were not functional. Her problem was fixed by cutting the downspouts. and installing elbows at the bottom to drain the water away from the house. The source of the leak in the bay window was easily found to be caused by the roofing having separated from the rake board where two roofs join. Rain water was being blown in against the rake board where it entered through the roof and into the bay window below.

A section of flashing was installed to redirect any water being blown against the rake board back onto the roofing. Caulking was also used to facilitate a seal at the juncture where there was too little distance to install flashing.

Our Gutters Are Clogged And I Have Gutter Guards.

From Eavestrough

Service Call: A customer called and stated, "Our gutters are clogged."
"How do you know?" "No water is coming out of two downspouts."

We arrived and the homeowner identified the two gutters that were clogged and one where water was coming over the gutter.

Even though there were trees close by, none could be a possible threat to the Waterloov System and once up the ladder a quick visual inspection confirmed that initial assessment. The quick visual inspection showed that the customer had a new roof--only a few years old--and gutter covers that were manufactured approximately twenty years ago mixed in with gutter covers manufactured fifteen years ago--something no experienced installer would do.

The gutter covers were also not attached correctly to the gutter. It was obvious that the roofing contractor not familiar with the Waterloov System removed the gutter covers to install the new roof and then reinstalled the Waterloov covers but not quite right.

Fortunately the Waterloov Gutter Covers were not nailed into the roof--as some roofers do--and could be easily removed from the gutter. Inside there was an accumulation of debris about two inches deep along about six feet leading to the downspout. Under all the debris at the downspout were pieces of rotted wood covering the opening in the downspout. The wood was from part of the old rotted roof that was replaced.

The other clogged gutter was likewise clogged with remnants of tar paper at the downspout from the reroof job. The place where the gutter overflowed was from an upper gutter discharging on the roof and overwhelming a section of the Waterloov gutter guard. When the roofing contractor reinstalled the Waterloov system, he neglected to install a diverter system to spread out the water.

Once again, the blemish free track record of Waterloov is untarnished.
"When debris meets it's Waterloov, the war of clogged gutters is Over!"

Tomorrow, we'll be visiting a customer who claims that all of her gutters are clogged and that water is leaking in near a newly installed bay window. She claims that no new roofing has been installed.

Will this home be an exception to the rule and have clogged gutters?

Storm Damaged the Gutter Guards.

A homeowner calls and reports, "A tree fell on my roof and destroyed the gutters. The roofing company hired a gutter company to replace the gutter and the Waterloov system, but did it wrong, we need you to fix the problem."

When the gutter guy was here, the homeowner told him how to install the gutter covers but he was a "know-it-all" and did it his way. He didn't give the homeowner valley-fall which they had before, but instead used useless diverters and even though there was a gutter cover installed correctly on one length of gutter, he chose to  reinstall them his way which was the wrong way so the lip of the gutter guard is on top of the gutter lip instead of under it."

Sure enough, he installed two runs of the Waterloov Gutter Guard wrong and his valley treatment was nothing more that solid splash block that actually directed water into the valley instead of away from the valley.

Two hours later--it was high and required a 40ft. ladder--the Valley Fall System was installed and the two runs of gutter removed and reinstalled correctly.

Shame on contractors who don't heed basic instructions or at least look at what's already installed and simply repeat it.

I Was Happy With Waterloov on the Back of My House.

A Waterloov Customer called in recently to ask for a quote to have Waterloov Gutter Covers installed on the front and back of her home. She said that she had it on the back of her home which gave me the impression that she had moved and now wanted it on her new home.

I measured her home and while talking with her I learned that she had had Waterloov on the back of the home that I was measuring. I asked, "What happened to your original Waterloov?"

"I had a new roof installed a couple years ago and the roofer tried to reinstall the Waterloov gutter guard but he messed it up when they took the shovels to rip off the roofing and couldn't reinstall it. So he gave me another gutter cover and it has never really worked."

I looked closely at it and found it to be the WaterFall gutter cover. I told  her, "The product he gave you can be very difficult to remove from your gutters. In fact some people when removing it end up destroying the gutter. I'm going to have to charge you $2 per foot to remove it."

This was an insult on top of another insult. The first insult was that she had purchased her first Waterloov in the early 90's for about a third of what it now costs and then she'd have to pay $2 per foot to have her roofer's mistake (installing a product that didn't work) removed.

But there was no question in her mind, she knew what worked (the Waterloov Gutter Covers) and what didn't work and was hoping she could get her roofer to remove his mistake and hopefully save her $2 per foot.

My gutters are overflowing

The customer's phone call went something like this. 
"All my gutter around my home are over flowing with your Waterloov Gutter Covers."

We asked, "Did you have a new roof installed lately?"

She replied "Yes, just a couple months ago. The roofer took off the gutter guards and reinstalled them."

Seems obvious as to what the problem is--roofing debris got into the gutter and wasn't cleaned out before the Waterloov was reinstalled. Cutting corners and not taking the time to do a job right is never a good idea, the roofer and customer blamed the gutter covers when the real culprit was an employee of the roofing company who either didn't care or was too rushed to make sure the gutters were free of debris from the roofing job.
 
Sure enough, in each gutter a few small pieces of tar paper and shingle had drained to the downspout and clogged them up. It would have only taken twenty minutes to service the entire home except for the fact when the roofer reinstalled the gutter guards, he nailed the rear edge of the panel into the roofing which required extra time to pop the nails in order to remove the panels over the downspouts.

Another service call the same day resulted in finding roofing debris from a roof that was replaced two years ago finally making its way to the downspout.

Once again, the Waterloov Gutter Protection System retains it's impeccable no clog history.

Gutters Clogged with Gutter Guards on Them?

The phone call this week went something like this:

"We've had your Waterloov Gutter system since the mid 1990's and are having a problem. Water is overflowing from the gutters in the front of the house and the back of the house. With all the rain, we've gotten some rain in our basement. Please come and fix the problem."

When asked if there was any visible debris on the louvers of the gutter covers the answer was, "No."
Uh oh, is this the first house to have it's gutters clogged? Both front and rear--that would be a rarity.

When we arrived, the homeowner pointed to downspout on the front lower gutter that had become dislodged from the bottom of the gutter. He asked if it could be repaired and thought the gutters would be due for a flushing since this was our first visit in over ten years when he had tree limb damage.

Just to check things out, the endcap was removed and what was revealed was a thirty foot length of gutter that was completely clear and open. Ten minutes later, the endcap was reinstalled, the gutter discharge elbow fastened to the gutter and one problem was taken care of.

Inspection of the short gutter on the rear of the home likewise resulted in an open clean gutter, but there was one area in the center of the gutter where the louvers on the outside of the gutter cover had become blocked.
Because of a trellis they weren't easily visible. Five minutes later and the end cap replaced and the louvers were cleaned.

For peace of mind, upper gutters were also inspected and found to be totally clear and open. Two minutes of instruction on  how to brush his lower rear gutter by the trellis and the service call was complete in less than a total of twenty minutes.

Waterloov's reputation for clog free gutters remains unblemished and our 75 yr old customer now knows he can easily maintain them.

Gutters Installed with Spikes and Gutter Guards

Spikes and ferrules are probably the worst possible way to install gutter especially in the hands of an inexperienced crew. Spikes that don't hit a rafter tail depend on the fascia board only to hold the spike in place. Sometimes they even split the fascia board making it impossible for the spike to be held in place for very long.

Unfortunately with mother nature's forces on the gutter (weight of water in the gutter, wind, ice expanding, etc.) spikes work loose and when several of them loosen, the gutter drops loose from the fascia board where water just pours over onto the roof below or the ground.

This becomes a particular challenge if gutter covers that don't get nailed to the roof are installed on the gutter as they end up flapping in the breeze if the spikes let go.

A far superior installation is to use hidden hangers with screws that screw into the fascia board. Now you have both the swelling of the wood and the turns of the screw holding the gutter to the fascia board.

The good news is that when gutter spikes loosen and the gutter pulls away from the fascia board, it can be repaired. The gutter covers are removed, then all the loose spikes are removed to prevent them from interfering with re installation.

A quality hidden hanger is fastened to the gutter minimally every 30 inches and ideally 24 0r 18 inches apart. The gutter is repositioned in under all the roofing and fastened to the fascia board with the screws in the hidden hanger.

The gutter covers are reinstalled and everything is back to normal.

It's not uncommon to find that spikes have been reset several times into other positions because of past failings. Sometimes the spike gets reset into the bottom of the gutter which will leave an opening for water to escape the gutter and damage the facia. A basic solution for this is to use a small piece of scrap metal and lay it over the hole with Geocel 2030 sealant.

Did Gutter Guards Cause My Ceiling Water Stains?

It was the day after Thanksgiving that I visited a customer who had the Waterloov Gutter Cover System for about ten years.

The wife noticed the beginning of a leak in the ceiling and wondered if the gutters could be the cause. She thought that the gutter covers had let enough debris in to clog the gutters.

We must get about two or three calls like this every year. I remember one on Mother's day a few years ago with a customer complaining that water was coming through the light socket in the middle of the ceiling. She too thought that the gutter guards were the culprit.

Even though it was a flat roof, I was certain the leak wasn't because of the leaf guards, but nonetheless, I checked because it's something we do--customer support. Sure enough the leak was caused by a tree limb that had been fallen from a nearby tree with such force that it penetrated the roofing. Finding the cause of a leak is usually not that easy.

With the Thanksgiving service call the culprit looked like it could be from a three inch vent pipe going through the roof. The flashing for the pipe was supposed to be installed under the shingles on the top portion of it. However, it was just laid on top of the shingles with caulk to seal it to the shingles--an obvious place for water to enter.

Fortunately the husband was home and what I suggested made sense to him even though his wife was still certain that the gutters were clogged and causing the problem. The good news for me was that the gutters where clean and open when I opened them up to check.

I'll keep posting new service calls as they come up and I'd like to hear about your experiences with roof leaks and gutter guards.

Can Pine Needles Get Into My Gutter Guards?

A customer called a few days ago to tell me that her Waterloov gutter covers were clogged. She had the product for ten years and was fearful that the gutters were clogged. I asked if anyone had ever brushed her gutter guards and she said no.

Sure enough, pine needles were crusted on the lower gutters (more so than the upper gutters). Fortunately it had just rained and it wasn't necessary to wet the louvers. Just a couple swipes with the brush on the end of a telescopic pole and the gutter guards looked like new.

Nothing had gotten inside the gutters and she was amazed how nicely they cleaned up. Once she saw how easy it was to clean them she purchased a telescopic pole and brush to do it herself.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all gutter covers, gutter guards, gutter filters, and screens were this easy to maintain.

My Gutter Covers Drip!

I had a customer who called to tell me that his front gutter drips so much that there's a drip line in the soil. He said that the Waterloov gutter covers around the rest of his house worked very well and that he thought it was a problem with how the Waterloov system was installed.

I asked him if there's any visible debris on the louvers and he informed me that he brushed the system and that it still drips. I was totally at loss as to why this would be happening and informed him that if there was a problem with installation (very very unlikely) that we'd fix it, but if after we did a water test and found nothing he'd be charged for the service call.

Upon arriving at his home it was evident as to what the problem was just by looking at the gutter. It was a first floor gutter and the louvers were completely covered with debris. He showed me the brush he used (a worn our house broom) which was totally inadequate. I showed him our inexpensive stiff bristle brush. My service man brushed his Waterloov Gutter Covers and we did a water test. Hardly a drop missed the Waterloov's louvers and after some basic education, we gave the homeowner his invoice as our reputation remained in tact and went on to the next service call who also had an overshooting problem.

Now you might think we do a lot of service calls, but we don't. Out of approximately two thousand installations locally, we only are called for service about twenty times per year--that's pretty good and only about ten percent of our homeowners actually need to brush their systems--for others it's completely maintenance free. This is why we say, "virtually maintenance free." It's like modern windows have become virtually maintenance free. It doesn't mean that the windows never need cleaning, it means that the homeowner no longer needs to climb a ladder to clean windows but instead simply flips them from inside to clean them.

No other gutter cover, foam insert or screen can be maintained this easily from the ground by the homeowner as Waterloov can.

More in the next post.

"There's a tree in my gutter!"

I went along on a service call today. The customer called to tell us that his newly installed Waterloov Gutter Covers of just two or three years were clogged and had a tree growing out of them.

Well, the tree part intrigued me and I wanted to see it for myself. My first thought was, "Sure, the gutters will clog when hell freezes over." But the way things have been going with the economy and all, well maybe, just maybe we have a first.

Sure enough when we arrived at the customer's home two miniature trees were visible, but they were not growing from the gutters. They were growing from the valley leading to the gutters. His gutters were clear and open.

Five minutes later we had used our telescopic pole and brush assembly to drag the debris from the valleys and gave his Waterloov gutter covers a brushing to remove debris from the louvers.

He tipped my service man and we left with our reputation intact. The Waterloov Gutter Protection System never lets a gutter clog inside.

Tomorrow another service call from a customer complaining of overshooting on one gutter to the degree that it's caused a drip line. He claims to have been brushing his gutter covers.

I'm Getting Water In My Basement!

A homeowner called last week to claim that his Waterloov covered gutters were clogged because he was getting water in his basement. My first thought was, "unlikely," and scheduled a service call. When I called to confirm the address and time the homeowner indicated that he didn't think now that the Waterloov Gutter Covers were clogged but would still appreciate it if we stopped by and would gladly pay for the service call.

Upon arriving at his home he told me that the gutter he thought was clogged was clear because he observed a lot of water coming from the downspout in the most recent rainfall.

He went on to say that he was thinking about having his roof redone within two years and asked if we should remove the covers before doing so. I informed him that based on condition of his roof, he had at least five years before he'd need a new roof and that his local Waterloov dealer was also a roofer. He was glad to hear that he'd have "one stop shopping," as he put it and that he had an additional few years.

He was still confused as to why he was getting water in his basement from the gutter he thought was clogged.

Upon investigating I found that the end of the leader went into an open four inch pipe which was about 8 feet long. What was happening was that water was flowing into the large pipe with some of it was flowing back to the foundation since the connection between the discharge leader and pipe was open.

The problem was fixed by shortening the leader to raise the discharge elbow and replacing the large open pipe with an eight foot leader stretching through the shrubs and then encasing the leader with the 4" pipe to protect it from any accidental crushing.

As we left, the homeowner gave us names of two neighbors who needed our gutter protection services.

Tomorrow we have another service call from a customer who claims that his newly installed gutter covers of two years ago are clogged. Although it's almost impossible that the Waterloov Gutter Covers are clogged, we'll investigate anyway and report