A dated photo of your eavestroughs before a storm is worth more than a memory afterwards. This guide sets out the baseline shots to take, how to make each one useful, how to file them, when to shoot through the year and what to do on the day damage happens.
In This Article
What photos can and cannot do
Photos show what your eavestroughs looked like on a given day. They help you and your insurer see the condition before a loss, the damage after it and the maintenance in between. They do not decide coverage. Your policy's wording does, and it varies. Many policies treat sudden storm damage differently from gradual wear, so ask your insurer or broker what they expect to see and what they exclude. Photos of upkeep count too. A dated shot of clear troughs after each cleaning shows the system was looked after.
The baseline set, taken from the ground
Choose a dry day with good daylight, and take these shots. Stay on the ground, and use zoom or binoculars for height.
- Each side of the house, wide enough to show the whole roof edge.
- Each corner and any step in the roofline.
- Each downspout, from the top bracket to the ground.
- Each outlet, where the trough meets the pipe.
- The fascia and soffit under the run, for paint and staining.
- Each discharge point: the extension, splash block and the ground it lands on.
- The soil beside the foundation below each downspout.
- Any existing damage, such as a dent, a patch or a sag, with something for scale.
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Technique that makes each photo useful
- Wide, then close. Take the wide view first so the location is clear, then a close-up of any detail.
- Same spots each time. Stand where you stood last time, so that changes are easy to see.
- Add scale. Hold a tape measure or a coin beside small damage.
- Keep the date. Leave the phone's date and location data switched on, and do not edit or crop the originals.
- Shoot a short video panning along each run, and another during heavy rain, to show how water behaves.
Four slips weaken a record: close-ups with no wide shot to place them, photos taken only after cleanup, dates lost when a phone is replaced, and originals kept in one place only.
Name and store them so you can find them
Make one folder for the house and one subfolder per year. Name each file with the date first, then the location and the view, such as 2026-04-12_north-side_wide. Keep a one-page log beside the photos with the date, the weather, what was checked and who did any work. Put invoices and receipts in the same folder, and back everything up to a second place, such as a cloud account or a drive at another address.
When to shoot: a simple calendar
| When | What to capture | Why |
|---|---|---|
| After the spring thaw | The baseline set, plus winter damage | Shows what the freeze-thaw months did |
| After the fall clean | The baseline set again, with clear troughs | Shows the condition going into winter |
| After a major storm, before touching anything | Damage, debris and the weather | Records the loss as it was |
| Before and after any contractor visit | The trough, outlets and downspouts | Shows what was done, and the condition it was left in |
| When you spot a leak, stain or overflow | The mark, the area above it and the date | Starts a timeline |
The claim-day routine
- Stay safe. Keep well back from downed lines and hanging parts, and do not climb.
- Photograph before you clean up, from several angles, and note the time and the weather.
- Take reasonable steps to prevent more damage, and keep the receipts.
- Call your insurer promptly, and ask what documentation they need.
- Keep damaged parts until you are told you may dispose of them.
- Get a written assessment from a contractor for any repair.
Send your baseline set with any quote request, so the crew can see the height, the roofline and what has changed. D&D Home Services starts gutter cleaning at $125 on a typical Kitchener-Waterloo home, and a run that needs replacing is eavestrough installation work. Both come with a free written quote. Ask any contractor for before-and-after photos, and add them to your folder. The how to spot gutter damage guide helps you see what to photograph.
Key Takeaways
- Dated photos show condition before a loss, damage after it and maintenance in between, but your policy's wording decides coverage.
- Take a baseline set from the ground: each side, corner, downspout, outlet, fascia, discharge point, foundation soil and any existing damage.
- Shoot wide then close, from the same spots each time, with scale and the original date data intact.
- On claim day, photograph before cleanup, limit further damage, keep receipts and damaged parts, and call your insurer promptly.
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