7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like a lot of homeowners, your rain gutters are not something you really worry about. They need regular gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is incredibly simple.
It’s not until 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 virtually unnoticed on most homes in Fairfield. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … materials that are meant to stand out! Most are made of durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of rain gutters is to create a path of least resistance for rain to get off your roof. When they’re in good condition, your rain gutters will direct runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaking water, and the rain gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your house and surrounding property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too easy to repair to be the cause of any major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is simple and safe. If you see any of the following signs, it’s a strong indication that your gutters have some type of damage.
Once you find a possible gutter problem, you can decide whether it’s something you are comfortable repairing or remedying by yourself or if it’s something you should call a gutter repairman to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water near your home is a good sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending the rain runoff away from your house the way they should be. Standing water can lead to mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. Plus, it will make the areas around your home consistently wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Either one of these is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or on the sides of your home. Mold and mildew indicate that there is a lot of moisture around that area – a possible issue with the rain gutters could be the cause. Keep in mind that mold and mildew are more likely to appear on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where they’re growing, it might be because that area gets very little direct sunlight on it. This is a scenario when the advice and expertise of a professional in Fairfield would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll have to wait until it’s actually raining to notice this gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean your gutters are damaged. It could just be that the gutter is full of debris and should be cleaned. In either case, you need to have it checked right away.
Basement Leaks
Based on the design of your home’s basement, the leaking might be due to any number of things. The standing water issue we discussed before could definitely cause a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls can only block out so much water. That’s why it is necessary to keep your gutters in good shape!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters pour directly onto the ground most of the time, and landscaping should be designed to work with this flow of water to help it submerge into the ground. However, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it isn’t supposed to. This standing water can kill plants either by force or by overwatering. It will also displace flower bed materials like rock or mulch.
Water Marks
Water marks are a visible sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are sometimes left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You usually see water marks right under the gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a typically an indication that rain water is running down the outside of the gutters rather than staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The final sign of gutter damage is by far the easiest to spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they definitely have damage. Following a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to identify any possible damage to the roof, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few simple ways The Fairfield Gutter Company recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least once each year. You can lengthen the time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out. Like with anything else, the better you care for your gutters, the fewer issues you’ll experience with them.
The best time to clean gutters is in the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. A lot of homeowners choose to clean their gutters themselves, but there are many local gutter cleaning companies that provide this service so you don’t have to deal with the mess or the risk.
Inspect your gutters often. Signs of damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. A quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – will reveal any of the signs we mentioned above.
We’d recommend that you do an exterior home inspection at the end of each season to ensure that your gutters are functioning correctly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Fixing a problem before it becomes too bad can save you time and money. A small crack, for example, can be sealed, or the section of gutter with the crack can easily be replaced very affordably.
However, if you let the problem go on for too long, you might end up making repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.