7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like a lot of people, your gutters are not something you often worry about. They need regular gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their purpose is very simple.
It’s not until rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you understand how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most houses in Winston-Salem. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … building materials that are definitely meant to stand out! Most are made of durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of rain gutters is to provide a path of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof quickly. When they’re in good shape, 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 foundation and basement from leaks, and the gutters themselves from rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your house and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too easy to repair to be the cause of any major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is easy and safe. If you notice any of the following signs, it’s a good indication that your gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you find a gutter issue, you can decide if it’s something you are comfortable repairing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you should trust a gutter service for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Standing water is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not directing the water runoff away from your house the way they should be. Standing water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. Plus, it will make the areas surrounding your house consistently soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew 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 in that area – a possible issue with the rain gutters could be to blame. Keep in mind that mold and mildew are likely to grow on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where they’re growing, it may be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a situation when the advice and expertise of a professional in Winston-Salem would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s actually raining to look for this type of gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean your gutters are damaged. It might just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and should be cleaned out. In either case, you need to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Based on the construction of your home’s basement, your leak might be due to any number of things. The pooling problem we mentioned earlier could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls will only keep out so much water. That’s why it is so important to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Rain 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. However, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it isn’t supposed to. This water can kill 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 pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually see water marks beneath the gutters or 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 the easiest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they have damage. After a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your house to assess any damage to the roof shingles, outer walls, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to your routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a couple of easy ways Winston-Salem Gutters recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least once each year. You can lengthen the amount of 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 have with them.
The best time to clean out gutters is in the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a good 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 deal with the mess or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the signs we discussed above.
We’d suggest that you complete an exterior home inspection following each season to be sure that your gutters are functioning the right way.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Taking care of 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 be replaced very affordably and quickly.
However, if you let the problem go on too long, you might end up making repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.