7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like many people, your rain gutters are not something you really worry about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is incredibly simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you understand just how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most roofs in Redding. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner decided on 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 purpose of rain gutters is to create a route of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof. When they are in good shape, your gutters will lead runoff away from the 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 they 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 any major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is simple and safe. If you see any of the following issues, it’s a pretty strong clue that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you identify a possible gutter problem, you can decide whether it’s something you feel comfortable fixing or remedying on your own or if it’s a project you should call a gutter repairman for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Standing water near your home is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not directing the rain runoff away from your home the way they are designed to. Standing water can lead to mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. And, it will make the areas around 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 the exterior of your house. Mold and mildew indicate there is too much moisture around that area – a potential problem with the rain gutters could be to blame. Remember that mildew and mold are likely to appear on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it may just be because that area gets very little direct sunlight on it. This is a time where the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Redding would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll need to wait until it’s raining to look for this type of gutter problem. Hopefully this doesn’t mean your gutters are damaged. It could just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and should be cleaned out. Either way, you need to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Based on the design of your basement, the leaking could be caused by any number of things. The pooling issue we mentioned before could definitely result in a basement leak. Egress windows and 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
Rain gutters pour directly onto the ground most of the time, and landscaping should be designed to work with this water flow to help it disperse into the ground. But, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it isn’t supposed to. This water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It can also displace flower bed materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are a visible sign that there is too much moisture on a surface. Water marks are sometimes left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You usually find water marks right beneath the gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a typically 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 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 home to identify any damage to the roof, outer walls, and rain gutters. These inspections are in addition to any standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few simple tips Redding Gutter Service recommends to 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. Like with anything else, the better you maintain your rain gutters, the fewer issues you’ll have with them.
The recommended time to clean gutters is during 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 professional 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 fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – will reveal any of the signs we mentioned above.
We’d recommend that you complete an exterior home inspection following each season to ensure that your gutters are functioning correctly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Taking care of a problem 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 easily be replaced very affordably.
But, if you let the problem 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.