7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like most people, your gutters are not something you often think about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but besides that, their functionality is incredibly simple.
It’s not until your gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you realize just how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go virtually unnoticed on most houses in Kannapolis. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner preferred copper or wood … building materials that are designed to stand out! Most are made of durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of gutters is to provide a route of least resistance for rain to get off your roof. When they are in good shape, your gutters will lead runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaks, and the gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When they are damaged, it can cause 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 major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is simple and safe. If you notice any of the following issues, it’s a pretty strong clue that your gutters have some type of damage.
Once you notice a gutter issue, you can decide if it’s something you are comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you should trust a gutter specialist to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water near your home is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not directing the water runoff away from your house the way they should be. Pooling water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. And, it will leave the areas surrounding your home consistently wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Either one of these is a sign of gutter damage, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or on the sides of your house. Mold and mildew indicate that there is a lot of moisture in that area – a potential issue with the gutters could be to blame. Remember that mold and mildew are likely to appear on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it may be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a scenario where the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Kannapolis would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll have to wait until it’s actually raining to look for this gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean your gutters are damaged. It might just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and needs to be cleaned out. In either case, you need to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Based on the construction of your basement, your leak could be caused by any number of things. The pooling problem we discussed earlier could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls will only keep out so much water. That’s why it is so necessary to keep your gutters in good condition!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters pour directly onto the ground most of the time, and landscaping should be designed to work with this water flow to help it submerge into the ground. However, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This pooling water can destroy plants either by force or by overwatering. It might also displace flower bed building materials like rock or mulch.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is a lot of moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You usually see water marks right beneath the rain gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a usually a sign that water is streaming down the outside of the gutters and not staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The last sign of gutter damage is the simplest 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 house to assess any damage to the roof shingles, outer walls, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to your routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few simple tips Ultra Clean Gutters recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least once each year. You can lengthen the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out regularly. Like with anything else, the better you care for your gutters, the less issues you’ll have with them.
The best time to clean gutters is in the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Most homeowners clean their gutters on their own, but there are many local gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to handle the work or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the issues we wrote about above.
We’d suggest that you do an exterior home inspection after each season to confirm that your gutters are functioning properly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Taking care of an issue 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 and quickly.
However, if you let the issue go on too long, you might end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.