Seven signs your gutters are blocked, checkable from the ground
Water spilling over the edge in rain, plants growing from the channel, staining down walls, dripping joints, sagging sections, birds working the roofline, and a downpipe that stays silent in heavy rain. Any one of them means the gutters need attention; three or more means soon.
1. Water spilling over the edge in rain
The definitive sign. A gutter doing its job is silent and invisible; one that sheets water over the edge in moderate rain is full, or its downpipe is. Note where the overflow happens: directly below it is usually the blockage or the blocked bend.
2. Plants growing from the channel
Grass, moss tufts, or the classic small sycamore sapling waving from the roofline. Gutters become planters only after months of undisturbed sludge: by the time anything is growing, the channel is at least half full. This is the sign that says 'last year', not 'recently'.
3. Staining down the wall below
Black or green streaks tracking down render or brickwork below the gutter line mean water has been going over for a while. On Teesside's pebble-dashed semis this shows first; on brick terraces look for the darker, permanently damp patch. The stain is not the damage: it is the receipt for it.
4. Dripping joints in dry weather
A gutter joint that drips hours after rain means water is ponding in the channel instead of running to the downpipe: blockage, wrong fall, or both. Joints should be dry within an hour of rain stopping.
5. Sagging sections
Wet leaves and sludge are heavy, roughly the weight of wet concrete when compacted. A section bowing under the load is near failure, and the brackets holding it are already losing. Caught now, it is an £80 to £150 fix; caught after the drop, it is a section replacement plus whatever the falling gutter hit.
6. Birds working the roofline
Pigeons and gulls pecking along your gutters are harvesting: moss, insects, and on the coast, dropping their own contributions in. Persistent bird attention at one spot usually means a moss bed worth having. On Redcar and Hartlepool's seafronts this is a year-round tell.
7. The silent downpipe test
In heavy rain, a working downpipe gurgles audibly and discharges steadily at ground level. Stand by yours in the next proper downpour: silence from the pipe while the gutter above is full means the pipe is blocked at the first bend, the classic failure point. £40 to £80 to clear, and cheaper than the wall repair if you wait.
What to do with what you found
One sign: book a clear on the normal schedule. Three or more: book it soon, before the next named storm rather than after. The camera inspection that comes with a proper clear shows you everything you could not see from the ground, which is usually less alarming than feared and occasionally worse.