7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like a lot of homeowners, your gutters aren’t something you really worry about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their purpose is incredibly simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you realize just how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most houses in Quincy. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … building materials that are definitely designed to stand out! Most home exteriors are made of durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of gutters is to provide a path of least resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof as fast as possible. When they’re in good shape, your rain gutters will lead runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaking water, and the rain gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and surrounding property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too easy to fix to be the reason for major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is easy and safe. If you identify any of the following issues, it’s a pretty strong clue that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you find a gutter problem, you can decide if it’s something you are comfortable repairing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you should call a gutter repairman to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Sitting water is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending the rain runoff away from your house the way they are designed to. Pooling water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. Plus, it will make the areas surrounding 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 gutters or the sides of your home. Mold and mildew indicate there is too much moisture around that area – a possible issue with the gutters could be to blame. 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 appearing, it might be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a scenario when the advice and knowledge of a professional in Quincy would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll need to wait until it’s actually raining to discover this gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that you have gutter damage. It could just be that the gutter is full of debris and needs to be cleaned. In either case, you need to have it checked right away.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the construction of your basement, the leaking might be caused by any number of things. The standing water problem we discussed earlier could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls can only block out so much water. That’s why it is so important to keep your gutters in good condition!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters empty 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. However, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This pooling rain water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It might also displace flower bed building materials like rock or mulch.
Water Marks
Water marks are a visible sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated. You usually see water marks right under the gutters or 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 final sign of gutter damage is the easiest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they definitely have damage. Following a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to identify any damage to the roof shingles, outer walls, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some simple tips Quality Quincy Gutters recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out 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 maintain your gutters, the fewer issues you’ll have with them.
The best time to clean out 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 many local gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to deal with the work or the risk.
Check 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 – should reveal any of the issues we discussed above.
We’d suggest that you do an exterior home inspection following each season to confirm that your gutters are working correctly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Taking care of an issue 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 and quickly.
But, if you let the problem go on for too long, you might end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.