Regulated firm
Leaky gutters and rainwater runoff: the small defect that causes big ones
Gutters and downpipes are cheap to fix and expensive to ignore. A blocked or leaking gutter discharges water down the face of a wall, and over time that saturation leads directly to penetrating damp, frost-damaged brickwork, timber rot behind fascias, and staining inside the house on top-floor ceilings and walls. Problems costing a hundred times the price of the underlying repair.
Common tell-tales that a surveyor looks for: green algae staining on wall faces below a gutter run, active dripping during heavy rain, vegetation growing from within the gutter itself, white salt deposits below joints, and rusting or lime-scale streaks on cast iron systems. Cast iron systems on period properties corrode from the back, where you can’t see it — which is why they need periodic assessment rather than a purely visual check.
During a survey we inspect the full rainwater system from the ground (and from a first-floor window where available), and we assess the wall fabric beneath it. We flag both the defect itself and any consequential damage already under way, because the second matters much more than the first.
This is one of the most under-appreciated defects in UK housing. It is also one of the cheapest to fix. Five hundred pounds of scaffold and gutter labour, done at the right time, can prevent five thousand pounds of damp remediation two years later.
After heavy rain, walk the outside of the property and look up. Five minutes with an umbrella tells you more about the gutters than any sunny-day viewing.
What we look for on site
What to check on a viewing
If you can visit the property in wet weather, do. Walk the perimeter with an umbrella and look for active leaks. In dry weather, look for what wet weather leaves behind: green vertical staining on the wall face below a specific gutter joint, salt bloom on brickwork, or peeling paint on the ceiling of the top-floor rooms directly below.
If the property has cast iron rainwater goods, factor a professional condition assessment into your first year of ownership. Replacement in matching cast iron is significant (£4,000-£8,000 on a semi); replacement in aluminium is more modest (£1,500-£3,000) and often the correct compromise on a mid-value period home.
“The two hundred pound gutter repair you avoided last year is the two thousand pound damp job you’re paying for this year.”