Hurricane Prep for Your Home's Gutters — A Florida Owner's Checklist

Florida's hurricane season runs from June through November, with peak activity in August and September. After a decade of running gutters in this state, here's the actual checklist we run on our own properties — and the one we hand to clients on contract maintenance.

48 hours before landfall

This is the urgent window. Run it in this order.

1. Clear every gutter run completely

A clogged gutter under hurricane-force water sheets the overflow behind the fascia and into the soffit, where it does five times the damage of overflow on the ground. The water finds the path of least resistance, and that path is into your attic.

If you don't have time to clear it yourself and we don't have time to come out, even a partial clear with a leaf blower from the roof is better than nothing. Get the loose debris off first; the compacted bottom layer is less catastrophic if storm water can sheet over it.

2. Walk every downspout and confirm flow with a hose

Any clog that survives even a moderate Florida storm becomes a fire hose pointed at your foundation when a hurricane lands. A 100 mph wind doesn't just push rain horizontally — it forces rain up into the downspout from below, pressurizing any blockage. If the downspout doesn't pass a hose test in calm weather, it absolutely won't pass during the storm.

3. Inspect hangers from the ground or with binoculars

You're looking for three failure indicators:

• Visible sag anywhere along the run. Sag means hangers are loose or pulled out.
• Gap between gutter and fascia. Usually means the spike-and-ferrule hangers (older style) have worked their way out from years of thermal expansion.
• Visible rust streaks running down the siding from the gutter. Sectional joints are failing.

Any of those three, call us before the storm. We keep one truck on emergency rotation for contracted properties during named-storm windows. Most of these are $375 minimum repairs that take an hour.

4. Strap or bring inside outdoor furniture (coastal homes)

This isn't strictly a gutter task, but it matters: a chair launched by 100 mph winds will tear gutters off a house regardless of how well they were installed. Coastal Brevard County properties (Melbourne, Titusville, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach) and Volusia County properties (Daytona Beach, New Smyrna) get the worst of this. Anything not bolted to a slab or structurally tied down comes inside or gets strapped.

5. Take photos of every gutter run and downspout

Stand in your yard, take a photo of each gutter run from the ground, plus a photo of each downspout. Time-stamped images from a phone are admissible evidence in an insurance claim. Photos taken within 48 hours of landfall are the strongest pre-storm documentation you can have. Don't skip this — it's five minutes of work that can save you weeks of "is this storm damage or pre-existing wear" arguments with your adjuster.

After the storm passes

Wait until officials have given the all-clear before going outside, especially for downed power lines.

Inspect for new damage

Walk the property and document any visible new damage with timestamped photos. Common post-storm gutter damage:

• Gutters torn loose from one or both ends
• Downspouts blown off their straps
• Gutters dented by flying debris
• Standing water in gutter sections that previously drained (suggests new sag or hidden damage)
• Fascia visible where gutters used to be

File the insurance claim quickly

Most Florida homeowner policies have a hurricane damage deductible separate from the standard deductible — usually 2% to 5% of the home's insured value. That can be a significant amount, but if your damage exceeds it, file. Don't wait. Adjusters get backed up after a major storm and the homeowners who file in the first 72 hours get processed weeks before the ones who wait.

Get a storm-damage estimate from us

We provide itemized photos and an insurance-formatted invoice in EN or ES. The diagnostic walk-through is free and runs about 30 minutes. We'll tell you straight whether your damage is repair-grade or replacement-grade — usually about 70% of what we see post-storm is repair-grade and lands under the deductible, so the homeowner ends up paying out of pocket. The other 30% is full replacement claims, where insurance pays.

— William Jerez, owner

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Storm damage on your property? Call (407) 968-3053 or request a free estimate. Priority response for storm-damage emergencies during hurricane season.