Guide
Gutters Overflowing in Heavy Rain? Here Is the Fix.
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A gutter overflows when more water reaches it than it can move to the downspout. The usual cause is a clog, but in a hard Omaha storm a clear gutter can overflow too: under a roof valley, below a steep or metal roof, or where a second-story downspout empties onto a first-story roof.
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The usual causes
- A clog in the gutter: leaves, seeds and grit packed into the trough.
- A blocked downspout, most often at an elbow, so the gutter fills and has nowhere to drain.
- A roof valley, where two slopes meet and send their water to one spot at once.
- A steep or metal roof, which sends water off fast enough to jump the gutter.
- An upper downspout that empties onto a lower roof, doubling what the lower gutter gets.
- A gutter that sags or slopes the wrong way, so water pools instead of running to the outlet.
- A gutter or downspout too small for the roof above it.
How to find out which
Watch it in a rain, from the ground. Water going over along the whole run points to a clog or the pitch. Water going over at one spot, under the place where two roofs meet, points to a valley. A downspout that dribbles while the gutter overflows is blocked. Run a hose into the gutter on a dry day to see which way the water goes and whether the downspout takes it.
The fixes
- Clear the clog, and the downspout, including its elbows.
- Re-hang or re-pitch a sagging stretch so it drains toward the outlet.
- Add a downspout, or a bigger one, where a long run or a big roof feeds one outlet.
- Where the water comes at one spot all at once, use a cover built for it: the LeaFree High-Flow panel adds pill-shaped vents for roof valleys, steep pitches, metal roofs and a first-story gutter catching a second-story downspout.
Why it is worth fixing
Overflow lands right beside the foundation and runs down the siding and over windows and doors. It soaks the fascia board behind the gutter, and it washes out beds and walkways below. A gutter that overflows every storm is doing a fraction of its job.
Questions people ask next
Can gutter covers cause overflow?
Some can. A screen or micro-mesh that has matted over with leaves or fluff sends the rain across its top and over the edge. A solid cover takes water in around its rounded front edge, and does not have openings to blind.
Why does my gutter overflow in one spot?
Almost always because of what is above it: a roof valley, a steep section, or an upper downspout emptying onto the roof there. That spot gets several times the water of the rest of the run.
My gutters are clean and still overflow. What now?
Check the downspout for a blockage, check the pitch, and look at what is above the spot that overflows. If it is a valley or a steep or metal roof, that spot needs a gutter cover built for concentrated water, like the LeaFree High-Flow panel.