Lake Forest, CA
Where the water goes after it leaves the roof
A roof that drains badly rots at the edges first — fascia, soffit, then the ends of the rafters. All of it cheaper to prevent than to replace.
Describe the gutters job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three Lake Forest contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Lake Forest is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Before you let anybody on the roof
The things worth pinning down on a gutters job. A contractor who has not raised them has not looked properly.
- Seamless or sectional, and what gauge of aluminium
- Number and position of downspouts
- Gutter size against the roof area draining into it
- Condition of the fascia behind the old gutter
- Where the water is discharged, and how far from the foundation
Guards reduce cleaning; they do not eliminate it. Treat any product sold as maintenance-free with suspicion.
Slope should be about a quarter inch per ten feet toward the outlet. Too little and it stands, too much and it looks wrong from the street.
Seamless aluminium formed on site is the default. Sectional gutter from a box store is cheaper and leaks at every joint within a few years.
Locally
What actually takes roofs out here is 1970s and 1980s roofs that are now well past the warranty they were sold on. A twenty-five-year shingle put on in 1982 is not a maintenance question any more. The older tracts here are past the point where patching is the cheaper answer.
About gutters here
My neighbours are all replacing their roofs. Should I?
Probably worth an inspection. When a neighbourhood goes up in a few years, the roofs reach the end of their life in a few years too. Your roof is the same age as theirs and has had the same weather.
Are you a roofing company?
No. Foundry Roofing Contractors — Lake Forest is a free matching service. We do not hold a roofing licence, we do not employ crews, and we never come to your house. We pass your request to independent local contractors who do the work and who you hire directly.
I rent. Can I use this?
You can submit it, but the owner has to authorise any work, so the useful move is to get the landlord to make the request or to give you permission in writing first. Contractors will not start work for a tenant.
Can I just put a new roof over the old one?
Often you legally can, and it is usually a poor idea. Overlaying hides the condition of the decking, adds weight, shortens the life of the new shingles by trapping heat, and doubles the cost of the next tear-off.
Get the roof looked at
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.