Gutters overflowing in heavy rain? A common Lynn Valley story

The situation

A family home on a quiet Lynn Valley street backs onto tall Douglas firs and cedars. Every time a heavy rain moves in off the mountains, water pours over the front gutter right above the entrance, splashes the steps and leaves a muddy line along the flower bed.

From the ground the gutter doesn't look full. That's what confuses most homeowners: they had the gutters cleaned in the fall, so why are they still overflowing in January?

What we check first

• The outlet where the gutter drains into the downspout.
• The first elbow of the downspout, where needles pack into a plug.
• Whether the gutter slopes toward the outlet or holds standing water.
• Where the downspout ends: on a splash pad, or into an underground drain.

How we approach it

Conifer needles are fine and flat. They mat together at the outlet like felt, so a gutter can look mostly empty while the one opening that matters is sealed shut. We clear every run by hand, but we spend most of our time at the outlets and elbows.

Once the gutters are clear, we run water through each downspout to confirm it drains freely. If a downspout disappears into the ground and still backs up, the blockage is in the perimeter or storm drain. That's a job for a drainage contractor, and we'll tell you so rather than guess.

Homes like this one, right against the forest, usually do best with two cleanings a year: one after the leaves and needles come down in late fall, and a lighter one in spring.

What the homeowner can expect

Clear gutters and downspouts that drain, debris bagged and hauled away (or left at your compost where it's accessible), and a short note of anything we noticed along the way, such as a loose hanger or a leaking joint. Repairs themselves aren't part of gutter cleaning, but knowing about them early helps.

Questions we hear