Metro Atlanta sees roughly 13 to 18 days a year with an inch of rain or more (NOAA normals), and the strongest of them come with wind. After one, a walk around the house from the ground tells most of what a gutter crew would check first.
From the ground
- Runs pulled away from the fascia, or hanging at one end.
- Downspouts knocked loose at the elbow or the wall strap, or crushed at the bottom.
- Branches or a limb resting on a gutter. Do not pull them off from a ladder; the gutter may come with them.
- Dents in gutters and downspouts after hail.
- Water marks on the siding or the fascia behind the gutter, and puddles or washouts next to the foundation.
Photograph first
Take wide photos of each side of the house and close ones of any damage, with the date. If a claim is possible, your insurance company will want them, and so will the contractor pricing the repair.
Repair or cleaning
Debris washed into the gutters by the storm is a cleaning. A run that has pulled away, a crushed downspout or a corner that came apart is a repair, and a section bent by a limb usually has to be replaced. If the fascia behind a detached run is soft, it is replaced before the gutter goes back up; see fascia and soffit.
Stay off the ladder
Wet roof edges, loose gutters and limbs under tension are a bad combination. Work at the roof edge after a storm is for a crew with the equipment for it.