Seamless aluminum gutter being installed on a house in East Islip, New York

Alec's Construction installs and repairs seamless gutters in East Islip (11730), working out of the yard in East Patchogue. A gutter job here starts with two questions — what falls on the roof, and where the water goes once it leaves the downspout — because those decide the system, the guards and the drainage.

Gutter Installation in East Islip

East Islip has two gutter jobs. South of Montauk Highway, the Bayview and Suffolk Lane canal grids are 1950s and 60s ranches and capes on filled ground a few feet above the Great South Bay, between Champlin Creek and the Heckscher State Park shoreline. Those lots are flat, in the mapped flood zone and in salt air, so the hardware has to be stainless and the discharge has to be planned around a yard with no fall. North of the highway the houses are older and the lots drier — big colonials along Carleton Avenue with tall eaves and the trees that go with them — and the job there is long runs, heavy leaf load and fascia that has often been wet behind an overflowing gutter for years. Many East Islip houses were re-sided and re-roofed after 2012, and the detail where the new roof edge meets the gutter is not always right.

What We Look at First in East Islip

On a house re-roofed after 2012 we check the drip edge first, because a new roof hung without one, or with one that stops short of the gutter, sends water behind the fascia no matter how good the gutter is. On the canal grid we then plan outlets around the flat yard. On the big Carleton Avenue colonials we set up for height and work the long eaves from the fascia out.

Canal-Grid Lots: Small Yards and Nowhere to Send the Water

The canal streets in East Islip were laid out on filled ground with small lots and houses close together, and that makes the downspout the hard part of a gutter job, not the gutter. There is not much yard between the house and the bulkhead or the neighbour, and water dumped at the corner of the house runs straight back to the slab or into the crawl space.

So the layout is planned around the discharge: downspouts placed where there is somewhere for the water to go, extensions carried as far as the lot allows, and the grade checked so it falls away from the house rather than toward it. Pointing a downspout at the next house is not a solution.

Salt air is the other constant on the canals. The fasteners fail before the aluminum does, and stainless hardware is the right call. On a house that was raised after 2012, the eaves are a storey higher than they were, the runs take more wind, and the hangers go in tighter on the exposed sides.

Gutter, downspout and fascia work on a Long Island house

What a Gutter Install Includes

The old gutters and downspouts come down first, and the fascia behind them gets probed along the full run. Soft board is cut out back to a sound rafter tail and replaced, primed on every face including the cut ends, and the drip edge is corrected so water cannot wick behind the new gutter. Only then does the gutter go up.

The gutter is roll-formed on site in one continuous run per elevation, hung on hidden hangers screwed into solid wood, pitched toward the outlets, with corners and outlets riveted and sealed. Downspouts are fastened to the wall and the discharge is carried clear of the foundation. Every run is water-tested with a hose before we leave.

Permits in East Islip

East Islip files with the Town of Islip on Main Street in Islip hamlet, a few minutes away; the bayfront and canal streets south of Montauk Highway are in the mapped flood zone. Gutter replacement in kind is normally maintenance rather than permitted work; drainage that changes grade or ties into a drywell can raise questions, and we confirm with the department where it does.

Alex walks the house in East Islip, photographs what he finds and gives you a written scope in the order the work has to happen — whether or not you hire us. Call (631) 312-7441 to set up a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

My East Islip house was re-sided after 2012. Why is water getting behind it at the top?

Often it is the gutter, not the siding. If the gutter overflows the back edge, or the drip edge does not lap into the gutter, water runs down behind the fascia and into the top course of siding and the housewrap. On a lot of re-sided houses on the canal streets the gutters went back up on the old hangers. We correct the drip edge, check the fascia, hang the new run with the back edge tight under it, and the leak at the top usually stops.

Can gutters be installed in winter in East Islip?

Yes. Gutter work is one of the few exterior trades that runs straight through the Long Island winter. The sensible time is before the leaves are down and before the first freeze, so the house is not spending the winter putting water at the foundation.

What size gutter does a house in East Islip need?

It depends on the roof area feeding each run and how steep the roof is, not on the house's square footage. A modest single-storey roof is fine with a standard profile. A steep roof, a large colonial, or any long run draining through one outlet wants a larger profile and larger downspouts. We size it on the walkthrough from the actual roof.

Who issues the permit for gutter installation work in East Islip?

East Islip files with the Town of Islip on Main Street in Islip hamlet, a few minutes away; the bayfront and canal streets south of Montauk Highway are in the mapped flood zone. Gutter replacement in kind is normally maintenance rather than permitted work; drainage that changes grade or ties into a drywell can raise questions, and we confirm with the department where it does.

Related Guides

Work With Alec's Construction

This page is written by the crew that does the work. See Alec's Seamless Gutters service — sizing, guards and downspout drainage that keeps water off the foundation. One crew from the first walkthrough to the last inspection.

Also in East Islip through the cold months: Roofing and Attic Insulation.

Also Serving East Islip

Talk to Alec's Construction About Gutter Installation in East Islip

We come out, look at the house, photograph what we find and put a written scope in your hand. No pressure, no obligation. Working across Suffolk County since 2018.

Or call (631) 312-7441

No cost, no obligation. We reply the same day.