and only then get noticed

It's not until it pisses it down when the gutters have been removed from the front and side of the house that you notice what a difference they make. It started raining again just after I left work and was nice and heavy by the time I got home to find an alternative roofing-man at the door talking to Nicky. Without gutters there are a series of drips hitting the thing over the door, the box thing with the gas meter in and the bit over the window where there had previously only been one occasional drip when the wind caught the water emerging from the broken bit of gutter.