Gutter and Downspout Services from Keys Roofing
Keys Roofing installs, repairs and maintains gutters and downspouts as their own service, whether or not we are working on your roof. We treat the roof and the gutters as one system: the shingles shed the water, and the gutters and downspouts decide whether it ends up somewhere useful or in your basement, landscaping or foundation. More in Gutters and Downspouts: The Part Everyone Ignores.
- Gutters: seamless gutter installation, gutter guard systems, gutter repair and realignment, custom gutter solutions and seasonal maintenance.
- Downspouts: downspout installation, rerouting and extensions, repair and replacement, underground drainage solutions and foundation protection.
Seamless Gutters, Pitch and Hangers
A gutter can look straight from the driveway and still be pitched wrong. Every run needs a slight, consistent slope toward its downspout outlet, and that slope, along with hanger spacing, is set during installation. Get it wrong and the gutter holds standing water, which adds weight, collects debris and shortens the gutter's life long before it visibly overflows. Both are hard to fix later without redoing the run.
Seams matter too. On sectional gutters the joints are where leaks start, and every corner and end cap is a seam. A small seam leak drips onto fascia and soffit wood all winter, which is how a minor seal job turns into a carpentry project. Seamless gutter installation removes the joints along the run, and the corners and end caps that remain get sealed and checked.
Gutter Guards That Hold Up Under Oak and Maple
St. Louis is oak and maple country, and those trees shed all season: maple seed pods in late spring, small maple leaves that slip through openings, and oak catkins and acorn debris that pack down into a fine layer. That debris load decides which guard works on your house. Here is how the main types compare on wooded lots (more in Gutter Guards in the Midwest):
- Screen and mesh guards: affordable and good at stopping large leaves, but seed pods and fine debris tend to sit on top of the screen.
- Reverse curve (hooded) guards: shed whole leaves and much of the coarser debris, but they need a precise install tied to the roof's drip edge and pitch.
- Foam inserts: cheap and easy to retrofit, but they trap fine debris and break down faster. We do not install foam as a primary system on wooded St. Louis lots.
- Micro mesh: a fine weave that stops the seed pods and fine oak debris standard mesh lets through. It costs more, but on a heavily wooded lot it is usually the closest thing to low maintenance.
We look at the trees actually over your roof before recommending a guard. No guard fixes a badly pitched gutter underneath it, so the gutter gets checked first.
Gutter Repair and Realignment
Most gutter repairs start with one of a handful of symptoms:
- Gutters overflowing during rain
- Sagging, or a gutter pulling away from the house
- Visible rust, holes or cracks
- Water pooling near the foundation
- Paint peeling on exterior walls below the gutter line
Years of water weight, ice and ladder pressure work hangers loose, and a gutter that has started pulling away from the fascia will finish the job under its first load of ice. We refasten hangers, realign runs that have lost their pitch, reseal seams and replace what is too far gone. If nothing actually needs repair, we tell you that plainly.
Downspouts, Extensions and Underground Drainage
A downspout that discharges at the foundation delivers the entire roof's water to the one place it does the most harm. We pay as much attention to discharge points, extensions and routing as to the gutters themselves.
The fix can be a new downspout, rerouting an existing one, an extension, or underground drainage that carries the water well away from the foundation. Warning signs: water pooling at the base of a downspout, a downspout that is disconnected or misaligned, basement moisture or foundation cracks, erosion or washout near a discharge point, and ice building up at the bottom in winter.
Seasonal Maintenance and the Fall Checklist
Most of the gutter damage we repair in spring was set up the previous fall. Leaves fill gutters in October and November, winter arrives while they are still full, and a clogged gutter in a freeze becomes a heavy block of ice that backs meltwater up under the shingle edge. Our fall gutter checklist for St. Louis homes comes down to a few steps:
- Clean late. For most St. Louis yards, the main cleaning belongs after the bulk of the leaves are down, typically late November into early December. Heavily treed lots should plan on two cleanings.
- Check pitch and hangers while the gutters are empty. Standing water after a rain is the tell.
- Look at seams, end caps and corners for drip stains, rust streaks or daylight.
- Follow the water down each downspout and confirm where it actually discharges.
If your gutters are above the first story or you are not comfortable on a ladder, hand it off. Keys Roofing cleans, refastens and reseals gutters and documents the condition of the whole system with photos, the same way we document a roof.
Where We Install Gutters and Downspouts
Keys Roofing installs and repairs gutters and downspouts across greater St. Louis, including Chesterfield, Ladue, Frontenac, Town and Country, Clayton, Kirkwood, Creve Coeur, Webster Groves, Wildwood, Ballwin and Brentwood, with extended coverage to St. Charles, Wentzville and Arnold. The full list of towns and zip codes is on our service areas page.
Estimates are free, we respond to every inquiry within 24 hours, and the company is fully licensed and insured. A downspout extension that needs adjusting after the install is a callback, not a new invoice. Call (314) 220-2333, Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm.