7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like many homeowners, your rain gutters are not something you really worry about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until gutters aren’t doing their job that you realize just how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go virtually unnoticed on most roofs in Lakewood. They fade into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner decided on copper or wood … materials that are definitely designed to stand out! Most are made of durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to provide a path of least resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof quickly. When they are in good condition, your gutters will route runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, the foundation and basement from leaking water, and the rain gutters themselves from rust.
When they are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too easy to fix to be the reason for any major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is easy and safe. If you identify any of the following issues, it’s a pretty good clue that your gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you identify a gutter issue, 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 service for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Sitting water near your home is a good sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending the water runoff away from your home the way they are supposed to. Standing water can cause mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. Plus, it will leave the areas surrounding your home consistently wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a sign of gutter damage, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or the sides of your home. Mold and mildew indicate that there is a lot of moisture in that area – a possible issue with the rain gutters could be the cause. Remember that mildew and mold are likely to grow on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it may be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a time where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Lakewood would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will have to wait until it’s raining to discover 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 should be cleaned. In either case, you need to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the construction of your home’s basement, the leaking could be caused by any number of things. The pooling problem we discussed earlier could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls will only block out so much water. That’s why it is so necessary to keep your gutters in good shape!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Rain gutters pour directly onto the ground in most cases, and landscaping should be laid out to work with this flow of water to help it submerge into the ground. However, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This pooling water can destroy plants either by force or by overwatering. It might also displace flower bed building materials like rock or mulch.
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 find water marks right under the gutters or 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 last sign of gutter damage is by far the simplest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they definitely have damage. After a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your house to assess any possible damage to the roof, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few easy ways TLC Gutters Inc. recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time a 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 fewer issues you’ll have with them.
The optimal time to clean gutters is in the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. A lot of homeowners clean their gutters on their own, but there are many local gutter cleaning companies that provide this service so you don’t have to handle the mess or the risk.
Inspect your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. A quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the signs we mentioned above.
We’d recommend that you complete an exterior home inspection at the end of each season to be sure that your gutters are working the right way.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Taking care of a problem 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.
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.