End-of-Season Gutter Check for San Antonio Homes
By mid-October the fall storm season is winding down, and San Antonio is heading into its driest and most pleasant stretch: November through February, with the cold fronts bringing wind and a few cold nights rather than rain. It's the right time to look at what the storms did, fix it while the weather is easy, and get the gutters ready for the spring oak drop and the April hail. The September checklist was about what to secure before the storms. This one is about what to look for after them.
What the storms leave behind
Runs that moved. A gutter that was borderline on old spike hangers before a two-inch-an-hour storm may now be an inch lower at the front edge. Sight down each run and compare it with how it looked in September. A new dip is a hanger job, and it's worth doing now because it'll hold water all winter otherwise.
Downspouts that came apart. Wind and the weight of a full gutter separate downspouts at the elbows. Walk each one and look for a gap at the top elbow, a crimp at the bottom, or a section that's simply gone from behind the shrubs.
Corners that started dripping. Sealant that cracked in the summer heat gets found out in the fall rain. The evidence is on the ground: a drip stain, a clean spot in the dirt, a streak down the wall.
Debris. Storms bring down live oak twigs, cedar elm leaves and whatever the wind found. The outlets are where it collects. Flush each downspout from the top if you can, or watch the bottom of each one in the next rain.
New evidence of overflow. Mud on the wall, a trench in the mulch, a wet corner in the garage. If the gutter is clean and still overflowed, that's a sizing question — why gutters overflow in San Antonio rain sorts it out — and the dry season is the time to add a downspout or upsize one.
Where the water went
This is the item nobody checks and the one that costs the most. Look at the ground around the foundation. A washed-out strip beside the slab, exposed footing, soil pulled away from the wall, or a low corner that stayed wet for days after the last storm all mean a downspout is dumping too close. On a caliche lot the water ran along the foundation; on clay it soaked in and swelled the soil on that side. Either way the fix is an extension out to four to six feet, and the winter is when the ground is dry enough to see the pattern. Downspouts and your foundation explains what each soil does.
The fascia after a wet fall
A corner that dripped through six weeks of storms has been soaking the board behind it. Probe the fascia with a screwdriver at every corner and under every downspout. Soft wood found in November is a board replacement in a dry week. Soft wood ignored until the April hail is a gutter on the lawn.
The one cold-weather item
San Antonio doesn't do ice dams. But it does do the occasional hard freeze, and the February 2021 storm is a recent enough memory that it's worth two sentences. A gutter that holds water because it's pitched wrong or plugged at the outlet will freeze solid in a hard freeze, and ice weighs about the same as water — a sagging run full of ice can pull the hangers out overnight. The fix isn't heat cable; it's the same fix as always. Reset the pitch, clear the outlet, and the gutter is empty on a cold night the way it's supposed to be.
The other freeze item is the downspout extension. Water sitting in a flat extension or a buried line without fall will freeze and split the pipe. Make sure extensions drain, and that any buried line actually runs downhill to its outlet.
The winter to-do list
| Item | When | Typical cost if it needs a pro |
|---|---|---|
| Re-hang a sagging run on hidden hangers | Any dry week | $150 – $300 per run |
| Reseal corners and outlets that dripped | Any dry week above 40°F | $150 – $250 each |
| Replace or reattach downspouts | Now | $120 – $220 each |
| Replace soft fascia under corners | Now, before spring | $8 – $20 per foot |
| Add or upsize a downspout on a run that overflowed | Before April | $150 – $300 |
| Extensions to 4–6 feet | Now | $25 – $80 each |
| Second cleaning, after the cedar elms | December | $120 – $300 |
What's coming in spring
Two things, close together. The live oaks drop in March and April and fill every gutter under them, and then the hail and storm season starts in April. A gutter that goes into spring sagging, dripping and half plugged from the fall gets no easier to fix once the oak leaves are in it. If the fall check turned up more than a couple of items, the gutter repair page has each one with a price, and the dry-season schedule is the easiest of the year to get on. If it turned up a system that overflowed on three sides with clean gutters and cracked corners everywhere, that's the conversation on the installation page, and the winter is the best time to have it.
When to book a professional gutter inspection
A walk-around from the ground covers most houses. A ladder-level gutter inspection is worth paying for when the gutters are more than about 20 years old, when a hail storm hit this year, when a run overflowed while clean, or when you've found soft fascia in more than one place. Ask for photos of every run, the corners and the fascia, and a written list of anything that needs work with a price on each line. The dry months are a good time to book, for the same reason they're a good time for repairs.
Common mistakes after storm season
- Assuming no leaks in the last storm means no problems; a sag or a soft board shows up before it fails.
- Leaving a separated downspout until spring, when it will dump the first April storm at the slab.
- Putting off the second cleaning until the live oaks drop, so the gutter goes into spring already half full.
- Sealing corners on a cold, damp morning. Sealant needs a dry joint and mild temperatures to cure.
A five-item list for the dry months
If you do nothing else this winter: re-hang any run that sags, reseal any corner that dripped, reattach or replace downspouts that came apart, extend any that dump near the slab, and book the December cleaning if you have cedar elms or pecans. Those five items cover most of what goes wrong in spring.
Common questions
How often should gutters be inspected?
Twice a year is a good rhythm here: once after the spring oak drop and hail season, and once after the fall storms. A quick look from the ground after any big storm in between catches the problems that can't wait.
What should a ladder inspection cover?
Every run and the inside of the trough, each corner and outlet, the hangers, the fascia behind the gutter probed at the corners and under the downspouts, and where each downspout drains. A good report says what's fine as well as what isn't.
Should gutters be cleaned again after the fall storms?
If you have cedar elms or pecans over the roof, yes; the December cleaning after they finish dropping is the second of the year here. Without big trees, flushing the downspouts and checking the outlets is usually enough.
Keep a simple gutter log
A note on your phone with dates, photos and what was fixed makes every later decision easier. Record when the gutters were cleaned, which corners were resealed, and what any contractor found. When the question of repair versus replacement comes up, you'll know how often the same spots have failed, which is the best evidence there is.
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