Signs Your Gutters Need Cleaning, From First Warning to Urgent

The signs usually show up in roughly this order. First you'll see leaves sitting above the gutter edge. Then grass or seedlings start growing in it. After that, rain spills over the front in a downpour, and stains turn up on the wall below. The sooner you spot them, the less water ends up where it shouldn't.

You don't need a ladder to check any of this. You can check for most of these from the yard, the street or a window. The Queensland Government's advice (opens in a new tab) is to “Clean gutters and downpipes so water can drain away as quickly as possible.” A gutter showing these signs can't do that.

Trees set the pace. Gum trees drop leaves all year, and palms keep shedding too, so gutters under them show the signs sooner. Gutters under open sky fill far slower. We cover how often to book a clean, tree by tree, in a separate guide.

Walk around the house and look up, then watch it in the next downpour. A clear gutter carries the rain to the downpipe, and water comes out the bottom. A clogged one spills over the edge or drips down behind.

Start from across the street or the far side of the yard. From further back you can see more of what's poking up above the gutter edge, and leaves or seedlings stand out against the sky. Look hard at the corners and the low spots near each downpipe. Gum nuts roll to the lowest spot in the gutter and sit there, where nobody can see them from the ground. On split-level and high-set Brisbane homes, the roof funnels leaf into the corners, so one corner can spill over while the other end looks fine. Here's what fills gutters in each part of Brisbane.

Check the valleys too, where two roof slopes meet. RACQ (opens in a new tab) lists “Leaf debris in gutters/valleys” as a common home maintenance issue. If you can see leaf piled up in a valley, mention it when you book, and we'll say straight whether it's part of the job.

When it rains, look from a window. Water sheeting over the front, or running down the wall under the gutter, means a blockage somewhere along that run. Note where it happens, so you can tell us when you book.

Two-storey homes are harder. The overflow can be hard to spot from the ground, so the stains on the wall and the soggy garden bed below are often your first clue.

Whatever you see, stay off the ladder to check. The Queensland Government says (opens in a new tab) “Over 1,000 Queenslanders are hospitalised each year after falling off ladders and most of these injuries happen around the home.” Our guide on why gutter cleaning is risky has more.

The water finds another way out. A full gutter can send storm water over the fascia, back under the roof or down the walls. Suncorp warns (opens in a new tab) that blockages from falling leaves and debris “can lead to permanent rot and corrosion.” Before long, it says, “you could be battling leaks, cracks, moisture and dampness in the ceiling.”

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (opens in a new tab) (QBCC) sees it too. It gets complaints about roof leaks, and it says “often leaks are caused by lack of maintenance and cleaning.” Its to-do list for roofs starts with “Don't let leaves and debris build up in gutters and downpipes.”

Check your insurance while you're at it. Suncorp's own page (opens in a new tab) says “Suncorp Home Insurance does not cover damage caused by blocked gutters.” Its current list of exclusions (opens in a new tab) still names blocked gutters. Other insurers word it their own way, so read your policy.

That's why the early signs matter. Leaves over the edge mean a clean. A damp ceiling means a clean and a repair.

They can. The Queensland Government lists gutters among the spots around a home (opens in a new tab) where mosquitoes can breed, and its advice is to “Clean gutters regularly to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.” So if you're getting bitten more than usual near the house, look up at the gutters as well as the bird bath and the pot plants.

The same page says to check around your home weekly “for evidence of mosquitoes or mosquito larvae”. Gutters are easy to forget on that walk, because you can't see the water in them.

Birds are the other giveaway. The open gutter is where most birds build. Nesting birds block downpipes with twigs and drop mess down your walls. If you see birds going in and out of the same spot, that gutter needs a look. Once it's clean, our bird proofing mesh helps keep them out.

If a native bird is using the nest, there are rules about moving it. Our guide to birds and possums in gutters covers them.

When the gutter itself is the problem. A clean clears what's in the gutter. It can't fix a gutter that sags, pulls away from the roof or is cracked through. A gutter that sags or has lost its fall is a job for a licensed roof plumber. So is one that's too small for the roof.

The QBCC's roof list (opens in a new tab) also says to “Repair cracked or broken tiles, guttering or flashing.” If you can see any of that from the ground, mention it when you call. Once the gutter's clear, we'll tell you if a roof plumber is what it needs.

And if a clear gutter still spills in heavy rain, here's why gutters overflow when they look clean.

Whoever's on the ground can do the looking. Nobody needs to climb up to see the signs. A tenant who spots leaves over the edge or water down the wall can tell the property manager. On a parent's home, a walk around the yard is enough.

On a rental, it mostly comes down to who caused the blockage, and the lease matters too. Our guide to who cleans the gutters on a Queensland rental goes through what the RTA says.

Keeping an eye on a parent's place? The ladder is the real worry. The Queensland Government says (opens in a new tab) “Ladder-related injuries among men aged 65 and older are steadily increasing in Australia.” Book the clean, and keep them on the ground.

Book a clean, and tell us what you've seen. We clear out the leaf litter, twigs and black sludge along the whole run. Then we check that water runs along each gutter and out the downpipe the way it should. If there's something particular you want looked at, tell us when you book, and we'll say straight whether it's part of the job.

We clean gutters across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, and you don't need gutter guard to book. We've been family-owned for over 25 years, and we're fully insured. The quote is free, and you'll have the price before we start.

Seeing the same signs every few months? Then it's worth asking about gutter guard while we're quoting. Every install includes the gutter clean for free, and it's backed by a written 10-year no blocked gutter guarantee.