7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like many people, your gutters aren’t something you often think about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but besides that, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you realize how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most homes in Mount Vernon. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … building materials that are meant to stand out! Most are made of durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to provide a route of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof quickly. When they are in good shape, your gutters will lead 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 lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to fix 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 strong clue that your rain gutters have some type of damage.
Once you find a possible gutter problem, you can decide if it’s something you feel comfortable fixing or remedying on your own or if it’s something you’d rather trust a gutter specialist to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Sitting water is a good sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending the water runoff away from your house the way they should be. Pooling water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. And, it will leave the areas surrounding your home constantly 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 house. Mold and mildew mean there is excessive moisture around that area – a possible problem with the gutters could be the cause. Remember that mildew and mold are more likely to grow on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it might be because that area gets very little direct sunlight on it. This is a situation when the advice and knowledge of a gutter specialist in Mount Vernon would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll need to wait until it’s raining to discover this type of gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean you have gutter damage. It could just be that the gutter is full of debris and should be cleaned. In either case, you need to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your basement, the leaking might be due to any number of things. The pooling issue we mentioned earlier could definitely cause a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls will only keep out so much water. That’s why it is necessary to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Rain 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 cause rainfall to overflow or pool where it isn’t supposed to. This pooling rain water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It will also displace flower bed materials like rock or mulch.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is too much moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You usually find water marks right beneath the gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a typically 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 by far the simplest to find. 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 identify any possible damage to the roof shingles, outer walls, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few easy tips ABC Gutter Solutions recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least one time each year. You can extend the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out regularly. Like with anything else, the better you care for your rain gutters, the less issues you’ll have with them.
The recommended time to clean out gutters is in the spring, but to be cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. A lot of homeowners clean their gutters themselves, but there are local gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to handle the work or the risk.
Inspect your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the signs we discussed above.
We’d recommend that you complete an exterior home inspection after each season to confirm that your gutters are working 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 be replaced very affordably and quickly.
However, if you let the issue go on for too long, you could end up making repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.