Most eavestrough calls start with a visible problem: a drip at a joint, a section pulling away from the fascia, or water pooling against the foundation after rain. Getting repair quotes is the obvious next move, but some situations will not actually be fixed by repair.
Fascia rot behind the eavestrough is the clearest sign. The eavestrough is only as good as the board it is fastened to. Soft, spongey, or delaminating fascia means any repair will pull loose within a season. The rot has to come out first, and once you are replacing fascia, the eavestrough comes off and goes back on as part of the same job.
Widespread sagging across two or more sections is the other clear case. A single sagging section is a rehang job, usually $150–$400 in Ontario. When multiple sections have dropped, the system has exceeded its service life. Rehanging them individually over two or three years usually costs more than replacing once.
Sectional eavestroughs older than 20 years with recurring joint leaks are past the point where repairs make financial sense. Ontario’s freeze-thaw cycles stress joints every winter, and by year 20 the joint geometry itself has shifted regardless of how many times the sealant has been replaced. Patching it again is just deferred replacement spending.
When repair quotes reach more than 40% of full replacement cost, replace. On a typical Ontario bungalow, seamless aluminum replacement runs $1,800–$3,500 depending on linear footage and downspout count. If repairs are approaching $1,200 on a 20-year-old sectional system, replacement is usually the better spend.
What a solid quote actually covers
The per-linear-foot price matters less than what is in it.
First, confirm whether the quote is for seamless or sectional. Seamless aluminum is fabricated on-site to the length of each run, with joints only at corners and downspouts. Sectional has seams every 10 feet, and that is where Ontario freeze-thaw failures concentrate. Most GTA contractors now default to seamless for residential work. If a quote does not specify, ask.
Gauge matters too. Standard residential aluminum in Ontario is .027 gauge 5K profile. Larger homes, steep pitches, or high-volume drainage areas warrant .032 gauge 6K. A quote that lists “aluminum eavestrough” without a gauge spec is worth asking about. Thinner material corrects slope less reliably and dents more easily during installation.
Ask about hanger spacing. Ontario snow and ice load means 24-inch spacing, not 36. You will not see this line in most quotes unless you ask, but it is one of the things that separates an installation built to last from one built to a price.
Finally, confirm where the downspouts are going and what happens at the discharge point. Downspouts need to direct water at least 6 feet from the foundation. If existing ones discharge against the wall, find out whether extensions or underground drainage are included. Replacing the eavestrough does not fix a foundation drainage problem.
Questions worth asking before you sign
Ask who is actually doing the installation. Large eavestrough operations frequently use subcontracted crews, and quality consistency varies. It is a direct question any legitimate contractor will answer.
Ask whether the fascia board is being inspected before anything is hung. A contractor who does not bring up fascia condition during the estimate has not looked closely enough.
Ask what the warranty covers and who backs it. Material and labour warranties are separate things. A five-year labour warranty from a local contractor with a track record is worth more than a lifetime material warranty from a company that may not be around in three years.
LF Builders has been doing aluminum work in the GTA for 50 years: eavestroughs, soffit, fascia, and the full exterior envelope. If you are getting quotes and want a second opinion on what is included, post the details here.
We went into soffit and fascia replacement in more detail in this topic: Aluminum soffit and fascia replacement in Ontario: what it costs and when to do it (2026)
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