7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
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If you are like most homeowners, your rain gutters are not something you often worry about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is incredibly simple.
It’s not until rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you realize just how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most homes in Leominster. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … building materials that are definitely meant to stand out! Most are made of durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of gutters is to create a path of minimal resistance for rain to get off your roof quickly. When they are in good condition, your rain gutters will lead runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the foundation and basement from leaks, and the rain gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too easy to repair to be the reason for any major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is simple and safe. If you notice any of the following signs, it’s a good clue that your rain gutters have some type of damage.
Once you find a gutter issue, you can decide whether it’s something you are comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you should trust a gutter company to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the rain runoff away from your home the way they are supposed to. Standing water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. And, it will make the areas surrounding your house constantly soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Either one of these is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the gutters or on the sides of your home. Mold and mildew mean that there is too much moisture in that area – a potential issue with the gutters could be the cause. Remember that mold and mildew are more likely to appear on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it may just be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight on it. This is a scenario where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Leominster would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s actually raining to notice this gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that your gutters are damaged. It might just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and needs to be cleaned. Either way, you want to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Based on the design of your home’s basement, your leak could be due to any number of things. The pooling problem we discussed earlier could definitely cause a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls can only keep out so much water. That’s why it is important to keep your gutters in good condition!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters pour directly onto the ground in most cases, and landscaping should be designed to work with this water flow to help it submerge into the ground. But, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This rain water can kill plants by force or by overwatering. It can also displace flower bed materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are a visible sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually see water marks right under the gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a usually a sign that water is streaming down the outside of the gutters rather than staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The last sign of gutter damage is the easiest to spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they obviously have damage. Following a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your home to identify any possible damage to the roof, outer walls, and rain gutters. These inspections are in addition to your standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a couple of simple ways All Pro Gutters recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time each year. You can lengthen the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out regularly. As with anything else, the better you maintain your gutters, the less issues you’ll have with them.
The recommended time to clean gutters is in the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners choose to clean their gutters on their own, but there are local gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to deal with the mess or the risk.
Inspect your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. A fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the problems we discussed above.
We’d recommend that you complete an exterior home inspection after each season to ensure that your gutters are working properly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Taking care of a problem before it becomes too bad can save you a lot of time and money. A small crack, for example, can be sealed, or the section of gutter with the crack can be replaced very affordably.
But, if you let the issue go on for too long, you might end up making repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.