What Hamilton's weather and trees do to spouting
Three wet months in a row of wet days
Ruakura gets 1,072 mm a year, and December (118 mm), May (117 mm) and July (116 mm) are the wettest months. Spouting that's half full of leaves copes in February and overflows in July, which is when most people first notice stains on the eaves or water running down the cladding.
A city of big trees
Hamilton's District Plan lists about 500 notable trees, on top of the ordinary street and garden trees. Leaves, needles and seed pods end up in spouting and downpipes, so a house under or beside a big tree may need clearing more than once a year.
Hail and thunderstorms
Waikato hail is most likely from June to November, and Ruakura averages 10 thunder days a year. A sharp downpour flushes everything sitting in the spouting toward the outlets at once, so a blocked downpipe often reveals itself right after a storm.
Older homes, older spouting
Plenty of Hamilton homes date from the railway-house era and the suburbs laid out in 1912, 1925 and 1936. WorkSafe lists gutters and downpipes among the places asbestos turns up in homes built before 2000. If yours isn't plainly metal or plastic, get it tested before anyone cuts or drills it.
Clear it, fix it or replace it?
If the spouting is sound but full, it just needs clearing, and maybe a guard where leaf fall is heavy. Our gutter cleaning and gutter guards pages explain the options.
If it leaks at joins, sags between brackets or drips at the corners, a repair usually sorts it: new brackets, resealed joints or a new outlet. See spouting repairs.
If it's rusting through, split along its length or patched in many places, replacing the run is better value than another repair. Swapping spouting for a comparable product in the same position generally doesn't need a building consent under Schedule 1 of the Building Act, though the new run still has to meet the Building Code.
Don't leave it for years. The Insurance Council gives an example of a claim declined for water damage and rot caused by spouting that had been blocked with leaves for years, because insurers treat that as gradual damage from a lack of maintenance.
What a good spouting quote includes
- The material and profile, and whether it matches the rest of the house
- The length of each run being replaced, and how many downpipes
- The bracket type and the spacing between brackets
- Whether the old spouting is taken away, and any fascia repairs found behind it
- A test for asbestos first if the old spouting might be cement
- A note on the trees: long runs, two storeys and heavy leaf fall all make a Hamilton job bigger
What's safe for you to do
You can
- Watch the spouting from the ground in heavy rain: overflow at one spot usually means a blocked outlet or a sag
- Clear the bottom of a downpipe or a ground-level outlet you can reach without a ladder
- Keep trees you're allowed to prune trimmed back from the roofline
- Look for rust streaks, drips at joins and stained eaves, and photograph them for the quote
Leave to a roofer
- Cleaning spouting from a ladder or the roof, especially on two-storey homes
- Rehanging, resealing or replacing runs and downpipes
- Anything that might be asbestos cement
- Working out why water is getting into the eaves or walls
What to ask before you say yes
- Is it the spouting or the downpipes that's failing, or both?
- Will you replace the brackets too, and how far apart will they be?
- Which material and profile are you quoting, and will it match the rest of the house?
- What can we do about the trees above the roof so it doesn't fill straight back up?
- If my old spouting might be asbestos, will you have it tested first?
- Does the price include taking the old spouting away?
What we'd do with Hamilton spouting
We'd get it cleared in April, before May's rain, and again in spring if big trees hang over the house. If it's sound, we'd only fit guards where the leaf load is heavy rather than all the way round. If it's rusting through, we'd replace whole runs rather than patch, and have the downpipes checked in the same visit, because new spouting feeding a blocked downpipe still overflows.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.