7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like most people, your gutters are not something you often think about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is incredibly simple.
It’s not until your gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you understand how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go virtually unnoticed on most homes in Concord. They fade into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … building materials that are definitely designed to stand out! Most are crafted from durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of rain gutters is to provide a route of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof quickly. When they’re in good shape, your rain 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 leaks, and the rain gutters themselves from rust.
When they 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 any major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is simple and safe. If you identify any of the following signs, it’s a pretty strong indication that your gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you find a possible gutter problem, you can decide if it’s something you feel comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s something you should call a gutter service for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Standing water near your home is a good sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the rain runoff away from your home the way they should be. Standing water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. Plus, it will leave 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 on the exterior of your home. Mold and mildew indicate there is too much moisture in that area – a possible issue with the gutters could be to blame. Keep in mind that mildew and mold are likely to grow on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where these substances are appearing, it might just be because that area gets very little direct sunlight on it. This is a time where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Concord would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll need to wait until it’s actually raining to discover this type of 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. In either case, you need to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Based on the design of your basement, the leaking might be due to any number of things. The pooling problem we discussed before could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls will only keep out so much water. That’s why it is important to keep your gutters in good shape!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters empty directly onto the groundin 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 cause rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it shouldn’t. This standing rain water can kill 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 pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually find water marks beneath the gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a usually an indication that water is pouring down the outside of the gutters rather than staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The last sign of gutter damage is by far the simplest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they definitely have damage. After a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your house to assess any damage to the roof, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to your standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some simple ways The Concord Gutter Company recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least once a year. You can lengthen the amount of time between gutter repairs by having them cleaned out regularly. 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 during the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Most homeowners choose to clean their gutters themselves, 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.
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 mentioned above.
We’d recommend that you do an exterior home inspection after each season to confirm 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 be replaced very affordably and quickly.
However, if you let the issue go on for too long, you might end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.