Clean Your Gutters Before the First Rain Hits Los Gatos
Why September, and why here
Of the 7,905 parcels in this market's record with a known build year, more than 5,800 were built before 1980. That means a lot of older gutters—steel, aluminum, and the occasional painted wood—sitting under mature oaks, redwoods, and bay laurels that shed year-round and accelerate sharply in fall. Los Gatos also sits at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where October storms can arrive fast and heavy after a dry summer. A clogged gutter on October 15 is a problem. A clean one on September 30 is not.
Los Gatos's homes, from the record
| Built | Homes |
|---|---|
| before 1940 | 967 |
| 1940-1959 | 1,584 |
| 1960-1979 | 3,263 |
| 1980-1999 | 1,151 |
| 2000 or later | 940 |
| Single-family homes | 6,199 |
|---|---|
| Median lot | 10,878 sq ft |
| On an acre or more | 1,216 |
| Median size | 2,256 sq ft |
7,905 of 8,307 parcels in this market's record have a known build year.
What to clear
Start with the gutters themselves. Pull out leaves, seed pods, and the fine gritty sediment that accumulates at the low end near the downspout outlet. That sediment is heavier than it looks and holds moisture against the gutter floor long after the debris dries out. On properties with a significant tree canopy—and with a median lot size just over 10,800 square feet, many Los Gatos single-family lots have room for several large trees—plan to do this twice: once in September before the rains start, and again in late November after the oaks have dropped.
Downspout screens and strainers catch most of the large debris but can mat over completely and block flow entirely. Pull them, clear them, and replace them. If your downspout runs into an underground drain, flush it with a hose from the top to confirm it is moving freely. An underground line that backs up in a storm can push water back up toward the foundation just as effectively as a clogged gutter above.
What to look at while you are up there
The cleaning visit is a good reason to look at a few other things you would not otherwise see from the ground.
- Gutter fasteners. Spikes pull loose over time. A gutter that has sagged away from the fascia board no longer drains to the outlet—it pools. Pressed-in spike fasteners can be replaced with screw-in ferrule hangers without removing the gutter.
- End caps and seams. Old caulk cracks. Any seam that has separated will drip against the fascia and siding below, not into the downspout. Re-sealing with gutter caulk is straightforward; replacing a section of gutter is a job for a licensed contractor if the damage is significant.
- Fascia board condition. If the wood behind the gutter is soft or discolored, water has already been getting behind it. That is a repair conversation, not a cleaning conversation.
- Roof surface at the eaves. You do not need to walk the roof to look at the first few feet. Lifted or missing shingles near the edge, or granule loss that exposes the mat, are worth noting for a licensed roofing contractor to evaluate before the wet season.
Where the water should end up
This part matters more than people expect. A downspout that terminates against the foundation wall, or onto flat soil that slopes toward the house, is doing slow damage regardless of how clean the gutter is. Water needs to leave the area of the foundation, not pool against it.
The standard approach is a splash block that directs flow away from the house at a shallow angle. On larger lots—and 1,216 of the 6,199 single-family parcels in this record are an acre or more—downspouts are sometimes extended with flexible pipe to discharge onto a lawn area or into a dry creek bed. On hillside lots common in the Los Gatos foothills, the grade usually helps, but confirm that water is actually moving away and not collecting in a low spot near the structure.
If you are considering connecting downspouts to an underground cistern or dry well for water harvesting, that is a project that involves the Town of Los Gatos building department. Check with them before any underground work.
A word on HOA properties
About 2,000 parcels in this record carry an HOA. If yours does, the CC&Rs likely assign maintenance responsibility for gutters and downspouts to either the owner or the association depending on whether they serve a single unit or a shared structure. Read your documents before you hire someone or make any modifications to the drainage path.
Tim McMullen · CA DRE #02016832
[email protected] · (415) 691-9272
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