Are Your Gutters Leaking?
Rain Gutters are important because – despite being simple and inexpensive – they protect valuable home investments, such as the roof, foundation and windows. Maintaining and cleaning rain gutters is an easy way to protect your house from damages.
And it’s a lot easier than you might think.
Finding a gutter leak early can protect your entire house. Here, we’ve provided a few signs that you can look for (without calling a roofer) to see if your gutters are leaking.
How to Identify a Leaking Gutter
There are a lot of warning signs that indicate a gutter leak, even if you don’t physically notice water dripping. You can do a visual inspection from the lawn to decide if the signs of a leaking gutter are present.
Here’s what to keep an eye out for:
Obvious Flaws – When the gutters pull away from the roof, it causes stress on the connectors. Cracks can be caused by poor installation, poor quality materials, storm damage or general wear and tear. Cracks in the gutter channel or seeing any part of them pulling away from the roof might not cause a leak just yet, but these things will certainly result in issues. Having these defects repaired is affordable than gutter replacement or any of the potential damages a leak can lead to.
Pooling – If rain is pooling around your home, it’s a possible sign that a gutter leak is present. You should also check underground pipes, water spigots and any water source that is near your home, just in case.
Pooling water around your home can be very damaging for the foundation. It’s also bad for landscaping and might cause your windows to leak.
Dripping – One of the most visible signs of a leaking gutter is a drip, or several of them.
A drip from your gutter is likely a clog, but if it’s coming from the bottom and it isn’t overflowing, there is an unseen leak somewhere. These small leaks will occur if a fastener has become loose (see the next item on our list).
Visible Fasteners – Seeing nails and screws wiggling their way out of the gutters likely means a leak is going to begin soon, if it hasn’t already. The area where the nail or screw fits starts to become a new area where water can get out if the fastener starts to fall out.
Sometimes the solution is as easy as tightening them, but it can also be necessary to cover the hole so no more water can escape from around the screw or the nail, even after it is tightened again. You can buy this type of sealant, or let a gutter repair company apply it.
Water Stains or Rust – Water leaves behind evidence, especially if it is consistently or frequently there. Darker water stains appear because dirt and other materials stick to the moist surface better than it would a drier one.
Rust is the result of nearly constant moisture, and the more extreme sign you’ll see after water stains. water stains can be cleaned and the gutters repaired, but if gutters are rusty, they definitely have to be repaired or replaced.
Unexplained Home Damage – If there hasn’t been a severe storm, and you haven’t had a limb fall on top of your roof, but you’re starting to see paint flaking, cracking in the foundation or walkways, decaying wood on your patio or deck, or mold on your window sills, you might have leaking gutters.
These are all signs that water has been leaking from a place it shouldn’t be. They also are related to older building materials, so all factors should be considered when inspecting gutters for leaks.
Other gutter issues…
Not all gutter issues lead to major repairs. If you see these gutter issues, a gutter leak might not be the problem.
Rain Overflow – This one is a pretty simple fix. It’s likely not a gutter leak, but a clog that has to be removed. You can do this yourself or hire a Canton gutter cleaning company – even a general handyman – to clean them out.
Animal Nests – A bird, squirrel, chipmunk or other pest can build a nest in your rain gutters or downspout, which will cause overflow. Once the nest has been there for a little while, you will start seeing some of the above signs of a leak in a gutter – like rust or puddling – if you don’t get rid of it.
Trees & Plants – A tree can take root in your gutter with minimal debris present. While it may be small now, a tree sapling will sprout strong roots that can destroy aluminum gutters before you know it.
Professional Gutter Repair
Any of these visible signs indicate there are issues with your gutter that need to be addressed right away. By quickly checking all of your gutters and downspouts, you can see if there’s a reason for concern.
This is where a gutter service in Canton can be helpful. They can distinguish whether gutter replacement is necessary or if you can get by with repairs to extend the lifetime of your home’s gutters. Sometimes, basic gutter cleaning is all that’s needed.
Homeowners can decide to do basic gutter care and maintenance, such as gutter cleaning, on their own. Although it is time consuming and somewhat dangerous, they are willing to complete the project a couple of times a year to save a little money.
However, anything beyond gutter cleaning is best left to the professionals.
Start by finding a gutter specialist with good customer reviews like PRO Canton Gutters. Then let us do a full inspection to correctly diagnose the problem. We provide free inspections for potential customers.
If there are repairs to be made, or if we think that it’s time to install new gutters, you can count on us to get the job done right. Our gutter repair service can save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run!