7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like a lot of people, your gutters aren’t something you really think about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is incredibly simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you understand just how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most houses in Chelsea. They fade into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner preferred 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 point of rain gutters is to provide a route of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof. When they’re in good condition, your rain gutters will route runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaking water, and the gutters themselves from rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to repair to be the reason for any major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is easy and safe. If you identify any of the following issues, it’s a good clue 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 on your own or if it’s a project you’d rather call a gutter specialist for.
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 house the way they are designed to. Pooling water can cause mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. And, it will leave the areas around your home perpetually soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Either one of these is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or the sides of your house. Mold and mildew mean there is too much moisture in that area – a possible problem with the rain gutters could be to blame. Remember that mold and mildew are more likely to grow on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it may be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight on it. This is a time where the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Chelsea would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll need to wait until it’s raining to notice this gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that you have gutter damage. It could just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and needs to be cleaned out. In either case, you want to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the construction of your home’s basement, the leaking could be caused by any number of things. The standing water issue we mentioned before 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 important to keep your gutters in good condition!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Rain gutters empty 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. However, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it isn’t supposed to. This water can destroy plants either by force or by overwatering. It can 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 sometimes left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You usually see water marks right under the rain gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a usually an indication that rain water is pouring down the outside of the gutters rather than 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 identify any damage to the roof, outer walls, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to your standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some easy ways Mystic Gutter Cleaning recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least once each year. You can extend the time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out regularly. As with anything else, the better you care for your rain gutters, the less problems you’ll experience with them.
The recommended time to clean gutters is in the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Most 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 gutter damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. A quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the issues we mentioned above.
We’d suggest that you do an exterior home inspection following each season to be sure 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 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 and quickly.
But, if you let the issue go on for too long, you could end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.