7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
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If you’re like a lot of homeowners, your rain gutters aren’t something you really think about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but besides that, their functionality is very 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 roofs in Burlington. They fade into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … materials that are meant to stand out! Most home exteriors are made of durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to provide a path of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof. When they are in good condition, your rain gutters will lead runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaks, and the gutters themselves from rust.
When they are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your house and 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 good indication that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
As soon as you find a possible gutter problem, you can decide whether it’s something you feel comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you’d rather hire a gutter specialist to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Sitting water is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the water runoff away from your house the way they are designed to. Pooling water can cause mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. Plus, it will leave the areas surrounding your home perpetually soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or on the sides of your house. Mold and mildew indicate there is too much moisture in that area – a possible problem with the rain gutters could be the cause. Keep in mind that mildew and mold are more likely to grow on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where they’re appearing, it may just be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a scenario when the advice and knowledge of a professional in Burlington would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll need to wait until it’s raining to find this type of 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 out. Either way, you want to have it checked ASAP.
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 before could definitely cause a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls will only block out so much water. That’s why it is so important to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Rain gutters empty directly onto the ground in most cases, and landscaping should be laid out 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 in areas where it shouldn’t. This rain water can kill plants by force or by overwatering. It can 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 find water marks under the rain gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a typically a sign that water is pouring down the outside of the gutters and not 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 have damage. After a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your house to identify any possible damage to the roof, exterior, and rain gutters. These inspections are in addition to your routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some easy tips Better Burlington Gutters recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least one time a year. You can lengthen the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out. Like with anything else, the better you care for your rain gutters, the fewer problems you’ll have with them.
The optimal time to clean out gutters is during the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. Most homeowners clean their gutters on their own, but there are many professional gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to deal with the work or the risk.
Inspect your gutters often. Signs of gutter 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 signs we discussed above.
We’d suggest that you do an exterior home inspection following each season to confirm that your gutters are working properly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Fixing 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 easily be replaced very affordably and quickly.
However, if you let the problem go on for too long, you could end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.