Gutter End Caps For Imperfect Roofs

When we look up at a building from below, fitting eaves troughs could be a walk in a park. The gutter end caps and rectangular corners slide into place effortlessly, catching moisture from the rain and snow and channeling it away. If you think that’s all there is to fitting gutters, think again. Enter the real world of buildings in Calgary.

Adjusting Gutters to Fit Buildings

It’s dead easy to make perfectly square gutter corners, and rectangular gutter ends with precision machines, and computer-guided technology. However, the reality of building roofs is far away from that ideal world. The timbers can twist and warp as they dry out. Skilled roofers do their best with this imperfect material.

In practice, the square gutter end caps and right-angle corners you see in a brochure, are seldom going to match the truth up there. Valiant Exterior’s skilled artisans have a few tricks up their sleeve  to bring the two realities closer, so the snow and rainwater goes where it should, into your storm water drainage system.

gutter end caps
Typical Roof Elements on a Single Level House

The Interface Between Roofs and Eaves Troughs

Lower roof edges overhang buildings along walls and around outside corners. We can adjust straight gutter runs to allow for imperfections, so they catch all the water tumbling down. We can make custom eaves trough box miters too, because we know nothing on a roof is perfectly square.

Take a careful look at the picture we are coming to next. The two building elements are not meeting at right angles, so the gutter installer just cut the gutter end to match it.

  • Notice how the water has leaked past their crude work.
  • See how this regular flow has rotted the timber away.

Valiant Exteriors will never do shoddy work like this. We build our reputation through quality, not cutting corners like that!

gutter end caps
A Badly-Managed Internal Gutter End ©Valiant Exteriors

Speak to Valiant Exteriors Before You Decide

Valiant Exteriors would insist on replacing that rotten fascia first, and capping and sealing the internal gutter end so it could not leak. The homeowner had no idea what was happening until we showed them a photo, because they could not see the damage from below.

We wrote this post to illustrate one very important point. Do not blindly trust a Calgary eaves trough service to do a decent job. Ask to see photographs of all the gutter joints and ends before you pay. How else could you be sure your gutters will not leak?

More Information

What Causes Wood Fascias to Rot?

Hand-Mitered Corners Are Better

A Comprehensive Eaves Trough System