Repairing eavestrough overflow damage

This is the AFTER photo which shows the repaired steps and the downspout that caused all the problem. The elbow that caused all the trouble was at the top bend where the downspout first attaches to the wall.


When we had heavy rain (which was several times last year and a lot this year), we would get water cascading over the gutters. Of course, this caused damage to our front steps.


I called the eavestroughing company numerous times and they didn't call, or else someone would call and I would say where our house is and then he would answer, "Oh, that's Frank's area - I'll have him call you right back". Of course he never did call back.

Frank finally did call back when I asked this other salesman for the owner's name and phone number. Frank came out and said he thought the problem was caused by a blockage due to leaves. I didn't think so (because the leaves blow all over and don't even really get on our porch) but he said there would be a service charge if it was blocked. So I hauled out the ladder to check it out and found that there was no blockage, but the elbow had been pinced to make it fit into the downspout. I straightened the pinched downspout elbow and waited for another rain to see if the problem had been fixed. And yes id had been resolved, so I could fix the step damage.


I took off the top two stones on the first/top row, as well as two stones on the next, and one stone on the 3rd. I then used a crow bar to lift up the bottom stones and put crushed gravel under it all. I then put the stones back and put some polymerized sand over it all. (That stuff is amazing by the way.)


The paint was peeling off a couple of small spots on our front door. I thought that I must not have cleaned the door properly before I painted it. Then I looked closer and found that the paint and the primer had peeled off. That meant that the primer had not adhered to the aluminum moulding properly, so the manufacturer had caused the problem! To repair it, I will have to give the aluminum a light sanding to scuff up the surface, then prime and paint. I hope the paint is still good. I love that colour!!!