7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like most homeowners, your rain gutters aren’t something you really think about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but besides that, their purpose is incredibly simple.
It’s not until rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you understand just how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go virtually unnoticed on most homes in Sandy Springs. They fade into the exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … materials that are designed to stand out! Most home exteriors are made of durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to provide a path of minimal resistance for rain to get off your roof as fast as possible. When they are 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 rain gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your house and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to fix to be the reason for any major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is easy and safe. If you see any of the following issues, it’s a good indication that your rain gutters have some type of damage.
Once you notice a gutter issue, you can decide whether it’s something you feel comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s something you should trust a gutter service to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the water runoff away from your home the way they are designed to. Standing water can cause mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. Plus, it will leave the areas around your house perpetually 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 sides of your home. Mold and mildew mean there is a lot of moisture around that area – a possible problem with the gutters could be to blame. Remember that mildew and mold are more likely to appear on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where they’re appearing, it may be because that area gets very little direct sunlight on it. This is a time where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Sandy Springs would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will have to wait until it’s actually 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 needs to be cleaned. In either case, you need to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the construction of your basement, the leaking could be caused by any number of things. The pooling issue we discussed earlier could definitely result in a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls can only block out so much water. That’s why it is so necessary to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters pour directly onto the ground in most cases, and landscaping should be designed to work with this flow of water to help it disperse into the ground. But, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it shouldn’t. This standing water can kill plants by force or by overwatering. It might also displace flower bed building materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually see water marks beneath the rain gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a usually a sign that water is running down the outside of the gutters rather than staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The final sign of gutter damage is the easiest to spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they definitely have damage. Following a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to assess any damage to the roof shingles, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some simple tips Sandy Springs Gutters recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time each year. You can lengthen the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out regularly. Like with anything else, the better you maintain your gutters, the less problems you’ll experience with them.
The best time to clean out gutters is during the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners clean their gutters on their own, but there are local gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to handle the mess or the risk.
Inspect your gutters often. Signs of damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – will reveal any of the problems we mentioned above.
We’d suggest that you do an exterior home inspection after each season to confirm that your gutters are functioning the right way.
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 too long, you might end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.