7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like most people, your rain gutters are not something you really worry about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but besides that, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you understand how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most homes in Cary. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner preferred copper or wood … building materials that are definitely designed to stand out! Most home exteriors are made of durable but 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 quickly. When they’re in good shape, your rain gutters will lead runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the foundation and basement from leaks, and the gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When they are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your house and surrounding property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to repair to be the cause of major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is easy and safe. If you identify any of the following issues, it’s a pretty strong clue that your gutters have some type of damage.
Once you identify a possible gutter issue, you can decide if it’s something you are comfortable repairing or remedying by yourself or if it’s something you should trust a gutter service for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water near your home is a good 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 provides the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. Plus, it will make the areas surrounding your house perpetually wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Either one of these is a sign of gutter damage, whether you see mold or mildew on the gutters or on the sides of your house. Mold and mildew indicate there is too much moisture in that area – a potential problem with the rain gutters could be to blame. Remember 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 on it. This is a situation when the advice and knowledge of a professional in Cary would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll have to wait until it’s actually raining to find this gutter problem. 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. Either way, you need to have it checked right away.
Basement Leaks
Based on the design of your basement, your leak might be caused by any number of things. The standing water issue 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 necessary to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters empty 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 gutter leak or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This pooling rain water can destroy plants either by force or by overwatering. It might also displace flower bed building materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are a visible sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You will usually see water marks under the rain gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a usually an indication that rain water is running 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 find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they obviously have damage. After a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your house to identify any damage to the roof, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to your routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few easy tips Cary Gutter Service recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time each year. You can extend the time between gutter repairs by having them cleaned out. Like with anything else, the better you care for your gutters, the less problems you’ll experience 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. Many homeowners choose to clean their gutters on their own, but there are many professional gutter cleaning companies that provide this service so you don’t have to deal with the mess or the risk.
Inspect your gutters often. Signs of damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the problems we mentioned above.
We’d recommend that you do an exterior home inspection at the end of each season to ensure that your gutters are functioning correctly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Fixing an issue 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 easily be replaced very affordably and quickly.
But, if you let the issue go on for too long, you might end up making repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.