Why Hillyard rooflines take a beating
The early-1900s homes north of Market St were built with shallow eaves, deep snow loads in mind, and gutters that have often been patched more than once. Add the freeze-thaw swings common to NE Spokane and the debris that blows in off the rail corridor, and a gutter system gets tested hard every season.
The pattern we see most in this neighborhood:
- Ice dams forming at the eave where melt refreezes, then backing water under the shingles
- Overflow staining down original siding because a single low spot can't keep up with a fast melt
- Soft, peeling fascia where years of overflow have soaked into wood that was never wrapped
- Sagging runs pulling loose from spikes that worked their way out decades ago
Gutters sized for real snowmelt
A trough that looked fine in 1985 is often undersized for the volume coming off a sudden Inland Northwest thaw. We measure your roof's drainage area and recommend a profile that actually moves the water - frequently a 6-inch seamless K-style rolled on site so there are no mid-run seams to leak. Downspouts get placed and sized to carry flow well away from older foundations rather than dumping it at the corner of the house.
If you're replacing a roof at the same time, ask about our roof replacement work - we include a 15-25 year workmanship warranty with a replacement, which covers most Hillyard bungalows outright.
Soffit and fascia: the part most companies skip
Gutters are only as good as the wood they hang on. On homes this age the fascia board is frequently the original lumber, and once it has soaked it loses its grip on the fasteners. We replace rotted fascia, repair or rebuild soffit, and can wrap the finished wood in aluminum or install vented material so the attic breathes the way it should.
Proper soffit ventilation matters more here than people expect - it keeps the underside of the roof deck cold, which is one of the most effective ways to stop the ice dams that plague this part of Spokane in the first place.
What a typical Hillyard job looks like
We start with a free, no-pressure look at the whole roofline, not just the spot that's leaking. From there a job usually moves through:
- Tearing off failed gutter and any soft fascia or soffit
- Treating or replacing wood, then wrapping or venting as needed
- Hanging new seamless gutter with hidden hangers on tight spacing for snow load
- Routing downspouts to carry water clear of the foundation
We work on plenty of homes with character details worth protecting, so we take care around original trim, brackets, and porch rooflines common on the older streets near the rail district.
Local, warrantied, and built for this climate
DG Contracting has been a family-owned roofing and exterior company since 2013, and we're GAF Master Elite certified - a credential held by only the top 2 to 3 percent of contractors nationwide. That backing lets us stand behind the work with a 15-25 year workmanship warranty, and full roof systems can carry the GAF Golden Pledge for 25 to 50 years.
We're licensed and insured in both Washington and Idaho, offer flexible financing, and carry a 5.0 rating across 288 Google reviews. Estimates are always free.
