The gutter glossary

Eavestrough

Also called: gutter, trough, eaves trough, eaves

The open channel mounted along a roof edge that catches rainwater and carries it to the downspouts. Eavestrough is the traditional Canadian term; gutter is the American word for the identical thing. Both describe the same component and the same cleaning service — there is no technical difference.

Downspout

Also called: leader, drain pipe

The vertical pipe that carries water from the eavestrough down to ground level. A gutter system is only as good as its downspouts: a blocked spout backs up the entire run it drains. Every proper cleaning ends with each downspout flushed and flow-tested.

Downspout elbow

The angled fitting where a downspout changes direction — at the top where it meets the gutter outlet, and at the bottom where it turns away from the wall. Elbows are where most clogs form, because debris that washes down the trough wedges at the first bend and compacts.

Downspout extension

Also called: splash pad, splash block

A pipe or trough added to the bottom of a downspout to carry discharge away from the house — ideally 1.5 to 2 metres, onto ground that slopes away. A splash pad at the outlet spreads the stream so it cannot trench the soil. Without one, a downspout waters the foundation.

Fascia

Also called: fascia board

The vertical board running along the roof edge, capping the rafter ends. Every gutter hanger fastens into it, so the fascia is the anchor of the whole eavestrough system. Rotted fascia crumbles around its fasteners — a gutter that keeps pulling away usually has a fascia problem, not a gutter problem.

Soffit

The panel on the underside of the roof overhang, between the wall and the roof edge, usually vented. Soffit vents feed attic ventilation: air enters low at the soffit and exits at the ridge. Blocked or water-damaged soffits mean a damper attic — which accelerates shingle ageing and feeds ice dams in winter.

Gutter guard

Also called: leaf guard, gutter screen, leaf filter

A screen, mesh, or cover installed over the eavestrough to keep debris out while letting water in. Guards reduce how often gutters need cleaning; no guard eliminates maintenance. Fine grit, seeds, and needles still accumulate under or on top of every type, so guarded systems still need a yearly check.

Micro-mesh guard

A gutter guard made of fine stainless-steel mesh with openings small enough to stop needles, seeds, and shingle grit — the only guard type that performs under pine and spruce. Debris then collects on top of the mesh instead, so micro-mesh systems need an occasional top-sweep to keep water flowing through.

Ice dam

Also called: ice damming

A ridge of ice that forms along the roof edge in winter when attic heat melts snow higher up and the meltwater refreezes at the cold eaves. The ridge traps water behind it, which backs up under shingles and into the house. Clogged, frozen eavestroughs give the dam its foundation — a clear, draining gutter is the first line of prevention.

Maple keys

Also called: samaras, helicopters, whirlybirds

The winged seeds maples release in late spring, spinning down by the thousand across the GTA's maple-lined streets. Keys mat together in eavestroughs, slip through coarse gutter guards, and famously sprout in the debris layer — the reason a late-spring clean exists as a separate job from the fall one.

Needle felt

The dense, matted layer that conifer needles form in an eavestrough. Wet needles interlock into a felt that water cannot penetrate, so rain rides over the top and spills past the gutter edge while the trough looks clean from the ground. Felt resists blowers and must be lifted out by hand.

K-style eavestrough

The most common residential gutter profile in Canada: flat back against the fascia, decorative ogee front that resembles crown moulding, typically 5 or 6 inches wide in aluminum. The name comes from its side profile resembling the letter K. Most GTA homes built or re-guttered since the 1960s carry K-style.

Gutter hanger

Also called: hidden hanger, spike and ferrule

The bracket that fastens an eavestrough to the fascia. Older systems use long spikes driven through a ferrule; modern ones use hidden hangers screwed into the board. Hangers loosened by freeze-thaw or debris weight let the gutter sag — the most common minor repair on GTA homes.

Gutter pitch

Also called: slope, fall

The slight downward slope of an eavestrough toward its downspout — roughly 1 to 2 millimetres per metre, invisible from the ground. Correct pitch moves water to the outlet; a run that has settled or sagged loses its pitch, pools water mid-span, and overflows in heavy rain even when clean.

Flow test

Also called: downspout flush

Running water through a gutter system after cleaning to prove it drains: along the trough, down each downspout, and out the discharge end. A flow test catches blockages a visual check misses — an elbow clog, a crushed section underground. A cleaning without one only confirms the gutter looks empty, not that it works.