What is causing the leak behind our gutter?

Question

Our gutter was recently replaced and there is one spot that has been leaking ever since (let's just say, we haven't had the best experience with the contractor and have been trying unsuccessfully to have him come back for months). I mostly want to understand more about what could be going wrong, and what the solutions would be. Just from looking at the gutter and the space behind it without a lot of knowledge in this area, it seems like any number of things could be going wrong.

1. It's at a connection point between two pieces of the gutter and he didn't use any miters to connect there so maybe the gutter itself is leaking. He said the angle wasn't good for that, but I'm curious if that sounds legitimate.
2. I'm not sure how well he put on the fascia apron and it looks like there's a big space between the gutter and the fascia, so maybe it could be leaking there?
3. Could it be leaking behind the fascia board, like through the roof? It's an old house and he mentioned having difficulty with there being no boards to connect to (I'm not sure if I have that description right since I'm no roofing/gutter expert!)

He said he would be back to fix it (although he's said that for months) and mentioned that he would use "goo". Does that sound like a fix to whatever this issue is? Any help understanding what might be going on here and the solution would be super helpful, as I don't really trust this guy knows what he's doing.

Pictures show the spot that's leaking from above and below. It's a steady leak, kind of like it's running through a penny-sized hole, and it's hard to tell exactly where it's originating.

Answer 1

I would agree with your contractor that this is going to be difficult.

Those look like standard 4" or 5" K-style aluminum gutters. I've only ever seen 90° pre-formed corners for them.

Here's a chat transcript with a manufacturer (I picked the first one that wasn't a retailer from a quick internet search) that I just had:

Peak Products Welcome! Can we help you with anything?

You Do inside/outside corners come in anything OTHER than a 90° angle?

Pierricka joined the chat

Pierricka Hello

Unfortunately they do not

I'm willing to bet that's standard across all manufacturers.

The best your contractor can do is cut the two pieces, overlap them, and apply a bunch of sealant to try to keep them from leaking.

It's hard to tell from the overhead shot, but it looks like the bottom of the gutter is well sealed, but there could be leaks from the outside "vertical" edge. I put "vertical" in quotes, because it isn't really. The shape of that outside edge is what makes it hard to match up and seal. If it were me doing it, I'd pick a dry day and squeeze the vast majority of a tube of gutter sealant ("goo") into that gap in the hopes that it would hold and keep the rain from flowing out.

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Since you're getting frustrated with the contractor, and (based on the first photo) you seem to have access to the roof and aren't afraid of getting up there, you may want to try to fill this gap with gutter adhesive.

As best you can, fill the gap indicated by the arrow from the direction of the arrow. i.e. from the roof, looking out (don't look down!) squeeze the adhesive in from the right to the left to fill the gap there. Some will probably squeeze out and may be visible from the outside. I would consider that (nearly invisible on the 3rd floor) bit an acceptable price to eliminate a big leak.

Note: If you can get a big ladder up there, you don't have to do this from the roof. I'm fine working on our 12:12 pitch roof, but working over the edge of the roof is rather uncomfortable. However, I only have a 2 story house and yours appears to be 3, so getting a big enough ladder could be a challenge. Scaffolding would, of course, be the best option, however, that's a big rental and a lot of effort for 3 minutes of squeezing glue in. Of course, it's less time than waiting for bones to heal after falling. You make the call.