Common Gutter Repairs, From Drips to Clogs
Leaking Seams and End Caps
A drip line on the siding under one corner, or a stripe of washed-out mulch below the gutter, usually means a failed joint. Sectional gutters have seams along every run; even seamless gutters have joints at the corners, end caps and downspout outlets. Englert, a gutter manufacturer, puts separating seams down to the metal expanding and contracting. The repair is to scrape out the old sealant, clean the seam, and press a silicone-based gutter sealant into it in dry weather. Small holes get a patch of matching metal.
HomeGuide's 2025 guide prices a gutter leak repair at $100 to $225, and sealing seams at $1.50 to $6.50 per linear foot.
Some older Ann Arbor houses have built-in box gutters: a wooden trough built into the eave and lined with metal, invisible from the ground until it rots. HomeGuide puts relining a box gutter at $900 to $1,900 and rebuilding one at $40 to $180 per foot. In a historic district, the city's design guidelines treat covering a built-in gutter, or replacing it with a hung gutter, as inappropriate, so repair is the expected route.
Sagging Gutters and Loose Hangers
A gutter that bows between hangers, or has pulled an inch off the fascia, is carrying more than it was hung for. Water that can't drain, packed leaves and winter ice all add weight. On older installs the spikes work loose in the wood; sometimes the fascia behind them has gone soft.
The fix is new hidden hangers driven into sound wood, and more of them. HomeGuide puts sagging gutter repair at $75 to $300, and hangers at $2 to $3 each plus $50 to $150 an hour in labor. If the screws won't bite because the board is rotten, the fascia has to be fixed first, which is a job for soffit and fascia repair.
Re-Pitching Gutters
Standing water in a gutter a day after rain means the run is flat or slopes the wrong way. That water breeds mosquitoes in summer and turns to a block of ice in winter, and the extra weight is what starts a sag. Re-pitching means loosening the hangers, resetting the gutter so it falls steadily toward the downspout, and fastening it again. HomeGuide prices a pitch adjustment at $75 to $200.
On a long run, the drop can get large enough at the downspout end to look crooked from the street. Our view: the cleaner answer is a second downspout in the middle and the run pitched both ways from a high point.
Downspout Clogs and Repairs
Water pouring over the front of the gutter at one spot, right above a downspout, usually means the downspout is plugged. The clog tends to sit at the top outlet or in the first elbow. The contractor clears it from the top, flushes the pipe, and checks the joints and straps. Crushed or split sections get replaced; HomeGuide prices downspout replacement at $30 to $75 each, or $2 to $4 a foot, and says most homes have four or five downspouts 10 to 15 feet long.
Check where the downspout lets out, too. Water dumped at the base of the wall ends up against the foundation. Extensions, splash blocks and the drainage options the city credits on your stormwater bill are covered on our gutter installation page.
Gutter Cleaning
Cleaning is the repair that prevents the others. HomeGuide's 2025 guide puts gutter cleaning at $100 to $250 on average: $70 to $200 for a one-story house, $100 to $275 for two stories, plus $60 to $150 when downspouts are badly clogged. A good cleaning bags the debris instead of throwing it on the beds, flushes every downspout and ends with a look at the seams, hangers and pitch while someone is already on the ladder.
Timing matters in a city this leafy. Our view: one cleaning in late spring, after the maple seeds come down, and one in late fall, after the oaks finally drop their leaves, which is often well after the maples are bare. Houses under several big trees may need a third. If that sounds like too much ladder time, look at gutter guards.
Why Ann Arbor homeowners call Ann Arbor Roofing Co.
- Written estimate, free of charge
- Shingle line, underlayment and ice barrier named in the price
- Deck repair priced per sheet before the tear-off
- One independent local roofer per request, not a call list
- No fee to the homeowner for the referral
Should You Repair or Replace Your Gutters?
Repair when the gutters are the right size, the metal is sound and the trouble sits in a few places: one leaking corner, a sagging stretch, a clogged downspout. HomeGuide's average repair is $100 to $450. Replace instead when:
- the gutters are sectional and seams are leaking along the whole run;
- the metal is rusted through or split in more than one place;
- the run overflows in heavy rain even with clean downspouts, which suggests the gutter or outlets are too small;
- hangers have been added more than once and the gutter still sags;
- the fascia is soft or peeling along most of the eave rather than in one spot.
New gutter options and their prices are on our gutter installation page.
What a Gutter Repair Visit Covers
The contractor walks the house first, looking for drip stains on siding, washed-out beds, peeling fascia paint and water marks on the foundation. On the ladder, they check each seam and end cap, test the pitch with water from a hose, tug on the hangers and look down every downspout. The written estimate should list each repair by location, the sealant or parts being used, whether cleaning is included, and any fascia board that has to be replaced before the gutter can be re-hung.
Gutters full of ice every winter are a different problem. The ice usually comes from snow melting off a warm roof, and the fix is in the attic; see ice dam removal in Ann Arbor.