7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like most people, your rain gutters aren’t something you really worry about. They need regular gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their purpose is very 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 virtually unnoticed on most houses in Canton. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … building materials that are designed to stand out! Most home exteriors are crafted from durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of rain gutters is to provide a route of least resistance for rain to get off your roof. When they’re in good condition, your rain gutters will lead runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, 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 house and surrounding property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to repair to be the reason for major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is simple and safe. If you notice any of the following signs, it’s a pretty good indication that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you notice a gutter problem, you can decide whether it’s something you feel comfortable repairing or remedying by yourself or if it’s something you’d rather hire a gutter company for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Standing water near your home is a good sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending the rain runoff away from your home the way they should be. Standing water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates 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 sign of gutter damage, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or on the sides of your house. Mold and mildew mean there is excessive moisture in that area – a possible issue with the rain gutters could be to blame. Keep in mind that mildew and mold are likely to grow on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where they’re growing, it may be because that area gets very little direct sunlight on it. This is a scenario where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Canton would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll need to wait until it’s actually 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 full of debris and should be cleaned. Either way, you want to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your basement, the leaking might be due to any number of things. The standing water problem we mentioned earlier could definitely result in a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls will only block out so much water. That’s why it is so important to keep your gutters in good condition!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters pour 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 isn’t supposed to. This pooling rain 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 left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually find water marks right beneath the gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a usually a sign that rain water is running down the outside of the gutters and not staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The final sign of gutter damage is by far the easiest to spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they have damage. After a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your home to assess any damage to the roof, outer walls, and rain gutters. These inspections are in addition to your routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few simple tips PRO Canton Gutters recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least once each year. You can lengthen the time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out regularly. Like with anything else, the better you care for your rain gutters, the less issues you’ll have with them.
The recommended time to clean gutters is in the spring, but to be cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. A lot of homeowners choose to clean their gutters on their own, but there are many local gutter cleaning companies that offer 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. A quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – will reveal any of the signs we discussed above.
We’d recommend that you complete an exterior home inspection following each season to be sure that your gutters are working properly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Fixing 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 could end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.