We serve homes around Lake Seminole

Seminole oaks drop leaves into your gutters

A lot of Seminole's streets sit under big live oaks and laurel oaks, from the neighborhoods around Lake Seminole to the blocks off Seminole Boulevard. The shade is a big part of why people like living here. It also means gutters in Seminole fill up faster than gutters on a newer street with young trees. Most of the leaves come down in late winter and spring, and the tassels and acorns land right on top of them.

A gutter packed with wet leaves stops carrying water. It fills up, and the next storm spills over the front edge and onto the walkway below. The weight of wet debris pulls on the hangers until the gutter sags away from the roof. Leaves that sit for months also hold moisture against the metal and the wood behind it. That is how a clog you could have cleared turns into a repair.

When we clean gutters in Seminole, we clear out the debris and run water through each downspout to check that it drains. While we are up on the ladder, we look at the hangers and the joints. If your house sits under heavy oak cover, ask us about aluminum gutter guards, which keep leaves on top and let rain through. Before we leave, we pick up what fell into the yard.

• Leaves and acorns cleared from every gutter run
• Each downspout checked to make sure it drains
• Sagging sections rehung on hidden hangers
• Fascia checked for soft or rotted wood
• Debris picked up from the yard before we go

Older Seminole homes often have wood fascia

Much of Seminole's housing is single story concrete block, built after World War II with low-pitched roofs. The block walls handle Florida weather well. The weak spot is usually the wood fascia board along the roof edge, which is the board the gutter is fastened to. On a lot of older houses the gutters have also been patched a section at a time, so the front and back may not match.

When a gutter overflows or leaks at a joint, water runs down the back of it and soaks into that fascia. Wood that stays wet in this heat goes soft and rots. Then the screws holding the gutter have nothing solid to grip. You may see peeling paint along the roof edge, or a gutter that moves when you push on it. By that point the board usually has to come out along with the gutter.

So on older Seminole houses we look at the fascia before we price new gutters. We install and repair soffit and fascia, so a rotted board gets replaced before a new gutter goes up on it. New gutters are made in one piece for each run and come in K-style or half round. We hang them on hidden hangers, and we can match a color to your trim.

We move rain away from Seminole foundations

Summer rain in Seminole usually comes in hard afternoon storms, and a roof sends a lot of water into the gutters fast. Hurricane season adds days of steady rain on top of that. Much of the town is low, flat ground near Lake Seminole and Boca Ciega Bay. On a flat lot, water that leaves a downspout does not run away on its own. It spreads out and sits against the slab.

The damage starts at ground level. Water pouring out of a short downspout washes a hole in sandy soil and carries the mulch out of the beds. It splashes dirt onto the bottom of the wall and keeps the block wet. Given enough storms, that water works its way under the slab, and that is where foundation trouble starts. One customer, Mike Riga, wrote: "Nestor took it upon himself to help me out with the erosion by placing sand and mulch where it occurred."

The fix is to catch the water and carry it out into the yard. Where a roof sends a lot of water to one corner, we can put in a larger downspout. We also run underground drainage from the downspout to a pop up emitter out in the yard. On lots near the lake or the bay, where yards can stay soggy after a storm, that buried line keeps water well away from the house.

Getting a price in Seminole

Call us at (813) 539-5260 or send us a message through the form on this page. Tell us what the gutters on your Seminole house are doing. The estimate is free. We come out to measure the house and look at the fascia and downspouts, then you get the price in writing. The office is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Saturday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.