Audit the source, outlet, foundation risk, contractor scope, and closeout proof before buying a gutter or drainage fix.
A gutter problem becomes a foundation-risk problem when nobody defines the source, destination, and closeout proof. This check is a contractor-scope audit: what water is doing, what damage risk it creates, what work is proposed, and what evidence proves the work solved the right failure.
Stay on the ground and avoid roof or wet-ladder access. The goal is not to narrate a rain walk. It is to prevent a vague gutter cleaning, buried drain, or waterproofing quote from skipping the foundation, grading, maintenance, and discharge questions that matter.
Name the risk the scope is meant to reduce
Separate cosmetic overflow from water entering a basement, dampening a crawlspace, eroding soil, loading a retaining area, softening trim, or draining toward a neighboring property. A proposal should state which risk it addresses. “Improve drainage” is too vague to close out later.
Require source, route, and outlet in the quote
Ask the contractor to identify the roof area served, gutter or downspout sections involved, buried or surface route, discharge point, cleanouts or maintenance access, and any code or local stormwater limits. If water is being moved, the destination must be legal, durable, and observable.
Include foundation and interior evidence
Photograph damp walls, window wells, crawlspace conditions, basement odor, efflorescence, erosion, and soil against siding before work begins. A gutter contractor may not be a foundation specialist; when the evidence suggests movement, persistent seepage, settlement, or structural concern, add the right evaluator before buying a narrow fix.
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Audit exclusions and future maintenance
The scope should say who handles excavation, utility locating, landscape restoration, pavement cuts, underground conflicts, failed buried pipe, cleaning intervals, and overflow when the system is overwhelmed. A drain that cannot be inspected or maintained is a future mystery, not a clean closeout.
Close out with proof, not a cleared invoice
Save before photos, the written scope, utility tickets where applicable, material descriptions, outlet photos, maintenance instructions, and post-work photos during the next comparable rain. Use the water-leak plan if water already reached indoors, and the patio drainage plan when hardscape is part of the runoff route.
Our view: a drainage repair is not complete until the owner can show what risk was reduced, where the water now goes, and how the system will be maintained.