Storm-Season Gutter Checklist for Tampa Homes
The statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is September 10. If you are reading this the week it was published, you are a few days past it, with eleven weeks of season still to go and the Gulf warmer than it has been all year. This is not a checklist for June. It is the mid-season one: what to look at now, between storms, so the gutters are still on the house in December.
You do not need a ladder for most of it. Stand back from each wall, then walk the drip line.
1. Hangers and straps: is anything loose?
Wind does not rip off a well-hung gutter. It gets under a gutter that is already loose at one hanger and uses the rest of the run as a lever. Sight along each run from the end. Any dip, any gap between the back of the gutter and the fascia, any hanger you can see daylight through is the weak point.
Downspouts get the same look. Each one should be strapped to the wall at the top, the bottom and every eight feet between. A downspout hanging on its elbow alone will be in the neighbor's yard after the first tropical-storm-force gust. Straps are a few dollars each and ten minutes to add.
Near the bay, in Shore Acres, Davis Islands or along Bayshore, this is where salt shows up. The aluminum looks new; the steel screws holding it are orange and crumbling. If you can see rust bleeding from a hanger, assume the ones you cannot see are the same. A stainless re-hang is $180–$350 a run, and it is worth doing before the wind does it for you.
2. Fascia: is the wood behind the gutter still wood?
Push a screwdriver into the fascia near each corner and below each downspout. If it goes in, the hanger has nothing to hold, whatever the hanger looks like. On block homes the fascia is the only wood at the roof edge and it has been wet for forty summers. Soft fascia gets replaced before a storm, not after, because a gutter that peels off takes the board with it and sometimes the soffit too.
3. Flow: does water get out?
Run a hose into the far end of each run and watch the downspout. Slow trickle means a clog somewhere between. No water at the bottom means the elbow is packed. Water over the front edge before it reaches the downspout means pitch or capacity, which why gutters overflow in Tampa rain sorts out. A gutter that cannot empty is a gutter carrying forty pounds of water per ten feet into a windstorm.
4. Extensions: where does the water land?
Every downspout should end at least four feet from the wall. Check that the extensions are still there; the mower took half of them in July. On a lanai or pool cage, look at the corner where the super gutter drains. If it lands on the deck, the deck is going to move. Downspouts and your Tampa foundation covers distances and costs.
5. Roof edge: shingles, tile and drip edge
From the ground, look for lifted shingle tabs along the eave and for the metal drip edge running behind the gutter. Missing or bent drip edge lets wind-driven rain go behind the gutter and down the fascia. On tile roofs, look for a slipped or cracked tile at the eave; a tile that goes in a storm takes the gutter under it. Those are roofer items, but they decide whether the gutter survives.
6. Trees and debris
Palm fronds are the storm-season problem here. A frond blown across a gutter dams it completely. Trim fronds that overhang the roof, and look at the gutters the morning after any windy night, not just after a named storm. Live oak limbs over the roof are the other thing; a limb that comes down takes the gutter and the fascia with it.
The ten-minute version
- Sight each run for dips and gaps
- Check every downspout has straps top, bottom and middle
- Screwdriver test at corners and below downspouts
- Hose test each run
- Extensions in place, four feet minimum
- Look at the lanai or cage corner
- Fronds and limbs off the roof
If a storm is inside the cone
Do not get on a ladder the day before. Pull the extensions off and lay them flat so they do not become projectiles, and leave the gutters alone. After the storm, before you touch anything, photograph every run from the ground, including the ones that look fine. If a section is hanging, photograph it hanging. Adjusters generally want to see the damage as the wind left it, and a contractor can quote from the same photos; check your policy or ask your agent what your insurer needs. Gutter repair after a storm is in demand for weeks, and a lot of the hurricane gutter repair Tampa homeowners need in September is re-hanging sections that were loose in August.
The National Hurricane Center's forecast page at nhc.noaa.gov is the one to watch, not the news graphic. If your gutters are loose today, fix them today. The season runs to November 30.
What not to do before a storm
- Do not climb a ladder in wind. If a gutter needs securing, do it on a calm day or leave it to a contractor.
- Do not tie a loose gutter down with wire or rope. It turns into a sail and can pull the fascia off with it.
- Do not caulk the gutter to the roof. Sealing the back of the gutter to the shingles traps water and rots the edge.
- Do not leave ladders or loose extensions outside. Anything that can move will.
- Do not wait for the cone. Contractors are booked solid once a storm has a name. Small fixes are far easier to schedule while the forecast is quiet.
After the storm: a safe order
- Stay off ladders and roofs until the wind has dropped and any downed power lines have been dealt with.
- Walk the house from the ground and photograph every wall, including the ones that look fine.
- Keep people and pets away from any gutter or downspout that is hanging.
- Clear fronds and debris you can reach from the ground with a pole.
- Put the extensions back so the next rain drains away from the slab.
- Check your policy or ask your agent before anything damaged is removed or repaired.
- Ask for written estimates that list storm damage separately from old wear.
Who handles what
Gutters, hangers, downspouts and fascia are gutter work. Lifted shingles, cracked tile, flashing and drip edge are roofing. A limb on the roof needs a tree service first and a roofer second. Torn screen or a bent pool-cage frame belongs to an enclosure contractor. Sorting the damage that way before you call saves time when every trade is busy.
Pool cages and lanais in storm season
Screened enclosures catch the worst of a gutter failure. A run that comes loose above a cage can tear the screen or bend the frame, and a super gutter that overflows dumps water straight onto the deck. Before a storm, look at the cage gutter as well as the house gutter: is its downspout clear, is it strapped, and does it drain away from the deck? After the storm, check the screen panels under each run for tears and stains, and include them in your photos. Enclosure repairs belong to a different trade, but the photos help whichever contractor you call first.
Empty houses and second homes
If the house sits empty for part of the season, ask a neighbor to look at the gutters from the street after each storm and send you a photo. A run left hanging for weeks can do more damage to the fascia and the walls than the storm itself did.
Using this storm season gutter checklist again
The same walk-around works in late May, before the season starts, and again in October when the dry season arrives. The end-of-season check covers what to look for once the summer storms stop, and the gutter repair page lists the usual fixes with prices.
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