Gutter Repair & Replacement in Lancing

The union bracket that joins two lengths of gutter is the single most common leak point on a modern PVC system. The rubber seal inside perishes, and once it does, water drips steadily onto whatever is below — usually a wall, a window head, or a doorway. We strip the union, renew or reseal it, and check the runs either side are still seated properly. On older cast iron guttering we rake out and remake the joint with the appropriate sealant rather than forcing a modern fitting into place.

Guttering should fall consistently toward the downpipe. When brackets work loose or the fascia behind them softens, a section drops and water pools instead of draining. Standing water adds weight, which pulls the next bracket, and the problem spreads along the run. We refix or replace brackets, reset the fall, and where the fascia itself has rotted we deal with that at the same time — there is no point hanging new brackets on soft timber.

Downpipes crack at the clips, split behind the fixings, or lose their shoe at the bottom so water discharges against the wall instead of into the gully. We replace damaged lengths, refit clips, and reconnect downpipes properly into the drainage. Where a downpipe repeatedly blocks we will look at whether the run is badly routed rather than just clearing it again.

PVC guttering has a finite life. Sunlight makes it brittle, and once a system starts cracking in several places, patching becomes false economy. We replace complete systems in PVC or aluminium, matching the existing profile — half-round, square-line, ogee or deep-flow — or upgrading to deep-flow where a roof sheds more water than the original guttering was sized for. Replacement usually includes new brackets, unions, downpipes and outlets so the whole system is the same age.

We also install guttering where there is none: garage conversions, extensions, porches, garden rooms and outbuildings. This includes setting the fall correctly, positioning downpipes where they can actually discharge, and connecting into existing drainage. New guttering often goes in alongside roofing work or a flat roof replacement, which is the most sensible time to do it.

Guttering is only as good as what it is fixed to. Where fascia boards have rotted, we replace them before rehanging the gutter, and we can renew soffits and bargeboards at the same time in either timber or maintenance-free UPVC. Doing this as one job costs less than returning to redo the gutter when the timber behind it finally gives way.

Properties along this stretch of coast take a particular beating. Salt-laden air corrodes metal brackets, screws and cast iron far faster than inland, and onshore winds drive rain against gable ends where guttering is often at its weakest. Gutters here tend to need attention sooner than the same system fitted twenty miles north. Where corrosion is the underlying issue we will say so, and recommend fixings that will last rather than the cheapest option.