Roofs and flat roofs

What should you ask if a gutter has no stop-end and water can run off onto the wall?

Ask where the run finishes. A stop-end closes the end so water goes to the outlet rather than pouring onto the wall, and if it is missing the brackets and the fall can still be in order while the wall gets wet. That is not a measured fall, and it is not a downpipe that discharges onto open ground for its whole height.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

Stop-ends are small and often missing after a repair, or cracked by frost in cast iron and plastic alike. The stain is a vertical mark at the corner of the wall, or a green streak where no downpipe exists. A home survey can see that from the ground when the end is in view. An end tucked against a neighbour’s gutter may be hidden. The report should not claim the fall was measured with an instrument. Eyes from the pavement are not a level.

Fitting a stop-end is a small repair unless the end of the gutter itself is broken. There is no RICS price. Do not replace the run because the cap is gone, and do not ignore it because the middle of the gutter looks dry. Ask which ends were checked, including short lengths over bays and porches. A porch gutter that dumps on a door head is the same idea on a smaller run.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Which ends have no stop-end, and which did you not see?
Is water marking the wall at that corner?
Are you distinguishing this from the fall of the gutter?

What are the typical next steps?

Point out the open end in any gutter quote.
Do not let a full replacement be the only option for a missing cap.
Check porch and bay gutters, not only the main eaves.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

Is an open end ever intentional?

Sometimes a gutter discharges into a hopper at the end. Then the end is an outlet, not a missing cap. The survey should say which it is.

Does a stop-end repair the fascia?

No. It closes the gutter. Soft timber behind it is a separate comment if it was found.