7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like many homeowners, your gutters aren’t something you often worry about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their purpose is very simple.
It’s not until gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you understand how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most homes in Pontiac. They fade into the exterior unless the homeowner preferred copper or wood … materials that are meant to stand out! Most home exteriors are crafted from durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of gutters is to provide a route of least resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof. When they’re 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 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 see any of the following signs, it’s a pretty strong clue that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you notice a possible gutter problem, you can decide whether it’s something you are comfortable repairing or remedying on your own or if it’s a project you should trust a gutter service to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water is a good sign that your gutters or downspouts are not directing the water runoff away from your home the way they should be. Pooling water can cause mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. And, it will leave the areas around your home perpetually wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a sign of gutter damage, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or the exterior of your house. Mold and mildew indicate there is excessive moisture around that area – a potential problem with the rain gutters could be the cause. Keep in mind that mold and mildew 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 doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. This is a situation when the advice and expertise of a professional in Pontiac would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll have to wait until it’s raining to look for this 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 out. Either way, you need to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your home’s basement, your leak might be caused by any number of things. The pooling problem we mentioned before could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls can only keep out so much water. That’s why it is 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 laid out to work with this water flow to help it disperse into the ground. But, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it isn’t supposed to. This pooling water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It will also displace flower bed materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is a lot of moisture on a surface. Water marks are sometimes left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually see water marks under the rain gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a typically a sign that rain water is streaming down the outside of the gutters rather than staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The last sign of gutter damage is the easiest to spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they obviously have damage. After a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to identify any damage to the roof, outer walls, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some simple ways Absolute Gutters, Inc. recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least once a year. You can extend the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out. As with anything else, the better you maintain your gutters, the less problems you’ll experience with them.
The best time to clean gutters is during the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners choose to 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.
Check your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. A fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the problems we mentioned above.
We’d suggest that you complete an exterior home inspection after each season to confirm that your gutters are working the right way.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Fixing 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 for too long, you could end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.