Call or Text Today:
- jeff@premiumleafguards.com
- Mon - Fri : 9:00am-5:00pm
The Villages / Lake Sumter Landing / Virginia Trace
Virginia Trace is the oldest of the Canal Street villages, close enough to walk to Lake Sumter Landing and bordered by Mallory Hill’s Virginia nine. We install and repair gutters, guards and drainage for homes and villas here, with a state-licensed home and building inspector on every job. Call or text (352) 440-3310.
Licensed inspector on every job • .032 heavy aluminum • Lifetime no-clog warranty • Free estimates
Virginia Trace was built in 2005, and it is a block and stucco village. Still Water Villas was even sold as an all block and stucco neighborhood, and nearly every home we see here is the same. Stucco is tough, but it keeps a record. Every time a gutter overflows, the water sheets down the wall and leaves a dark streak, and over time those streaks turn into mildew lines and stained paint that come back no matter how often you pressure wash.
After more than 20 years, the original gutters on these homes are at the end of their fastener life. Hangers loosen, the pitch drifts, and water collects in low spots until a hard rain pushes it over the front edge. The corners are the usual offenders. Two runs meet, the seal has dried out, and a steady drip lands in the same spot on the wall during every storm, staining the stucco and splashing dirt up onto it from the bed below.
The goal is simple: water goes into the gutter, through the downspout and away from the wall, every time. We hang seamless .032 aluminum with hangers every two feet so the pitch holds, use one continuous piece per run so there are no mid-run seams to open up, and size the downspouts to keep up with summer downpours. Once the overflow stops, the stucco can be cleaned and painted, and it stays that way.
What it means for your gutters: stucco walls that stain every time a 20-year-old gutter overflows, and golf and water-view lots where roof runoff needs to be carried toward the pond side, not the house.
Virginia Trace is in District 6, and the current District 6 Architectural Review manual says ARC approval is not required for gutters and downspouts on homes, courtyard villas and patio villas. You still need to match the look of the neighborhood, and anything beyond gutters and downspouts goes through review first.
Rules get revised, so we check the current manual before we start. If your project needs an application, we say so up front and help you put it together. The manuals are posted on the District Government Community Standards page.
Here is what we do for Virginia Trace homes and Still Water villas.
Many Virginia Trace homes look out on the Virginia nine, and some overlook water as well. On those lots the back of the house faces the view, and the back downspouts tend to empty right at the lanai or into the bed along the foundation. That keeps the ground soft at the corners, splashes the bottom of the stucco and leaves water standing on the pavers after a storm.
We would rather put that water where the land already wants it to go. Back downspouts tie into solid PVC drain pipe that runs underground about five feet from the foundation and releases the water toward the open lawn on the golf or pond side. Solid PVC holds its shape and can be cleared if it ever needs it. We never use black corrugated pipe, which crushes under a mower and fills with silt.
Call or text (352) 440-3310 or book online. Tell us what you are seeing: overflow at a corner, a run that sags, water at the slab, or just the leaves. If it is a mystery leak, we offer a $100 diagnostic visit that is credited toward the work.
Jeff looks at the stucco below each gutter for streaks and mildew lines, checks the corners and pitch on the 2005 gutters, and sees where the back downspouts are sending water on golf and water-view lots. Then you get a straight answer, including when the right call is a cleaning or a small repair and nothing else.
Seamless .032 aluminum rolled on site, hangers every two feet, 316L stainless mesh where it earns its keep and solid PVC carrying water out about five feet from the house. Then we clean up, walk it with you and stand behind it with our lifetime no-clog guard warranty.
Premium Leaf Guards is run by Jeff Ours, a state-licensed home and building inspector and court-recognized construction expert with more than twenty years in the trade. He is on every job and does about half of every install himself.
That matters in Virginia Trace, where 20-year-old gutters and block and stucco walls mean the damage shows up on the wall long before anyone looks at the gutter. An inspector traces the stain back to its source, so you fix the cause instead of repainting the same streak every year.
“The system is only as good as the installer. I like money, but I don’t try to sell you something you don’t need.”
Jeff Ours, owner
Virginia Trace is in District 6, and the current Architectural Review manual says ARC approval is not required for gutters and downspouts on homes, courtyard villas and patio villas. The manual does not mention gutter guards by name, and anything beyond gutters and downspouts goes through review, so we check the current manual for your project before we start.
Only for a while. Those streaks usually come from a gutter that overflows or a corner that drips during every storm, so they come right back after pressure washing. Fix the gutter first: reset the pitch, reseal or replace the corners, and make sure the downspouts keep up. Then clean the wall, and it stays clean.
Sometimes. At 20 years the hangers and corner seals are usually the first to go, and those can be repaired. If the aluminum is sound, we can rehang it every two feet and reseal it. If it is dented, patched or leaking along its length, a new seamless .032 aluminum run is the better value. Jeff will tell you which one your home needs.
Yes. Gutters often come down during a roof replacement and go back up on old hangers, with the pitch off or the new drip edge tucked behind the gutter instead of over it. If you have noticed water behind the gutter or a new stain on the fascia since the roof was done, that is the first thing we look at.
Toward the open lawn on the golf or pond side, away from the lanai and the foundation. We run the back downspouts into solid PVC drain pipe underground and let the water out about five feet from the house, where the ground already slopes away. It keeps the pavers dry and the bottom of the stucco clean.
It depends on the length of your roof line, the number of corners and downspouts, and whether you add guards or underground drainage. We price every job all in and the estimate is free. Call or text (352) 440-3310 and we will come look.
We work all over the villages around Lake Sumter Landing. If you are visiting friends in a neighboring village, these pages are written for their homes:
See every village we serve near Lake Sumter Landing, or our gutter services across The Villages.
We will look at your roof line, your gutters and where the water goes, and tell you what your Virginia Trace home actually needs. If that is nothing right now, we will say so.
