7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like most people, your rain gutters are not something you often think about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but besides that, their purpose is very simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you understand just how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most roofs in Syracuse. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … materials that are meant to stand out! Most are made of durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to create a route of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof quickly. When they’re in good shape, your rain gutters will lead runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaking water, 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 cause of 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 good clue that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you find a possible gutter issue, you can decide if it’s something you are comfortable repairing or remedying on your own or if it’s something you should call a gutter company for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water near your home is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending 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 pesky mosquitoes. Plus, it will leave the areas around your home constantly wet 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 indicate there is too much moisture around that area – a possible problem with the rain 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 just be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. This is a scenario when the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Syracuse would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s raining to notice this gutter problem. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that your gutters are damaged. It might just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and needs to be cleaned out. Either way, you need to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your basement, the leaking could be due to any number of things. The pooling issue we mentioned earlier could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls will only keep out so much water. That’s why it is important to keep your gutters in good shape!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters empty directly onto the ground most of the time, and landscaping should be designed to work with this water flow to help it disperse into the ground. But, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it shouldn’t. This rain 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 too much 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 beneath the gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a usually an indication that water is streaming 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 spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they definitely have damage. After a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to identify any damage to the roof, outer walls, and rain gutters. These inspections are in addition to any routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some easy tips Syracuse Gutter Solutions recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least one time each year. You can extend the time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out regularly. Like with anything else, the better you care for your gutters, the less problems you’ll experience with them.
The recommended time to clean out gutters is during the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners clean their gutters themselves, but there are professional gutter cleaning companies that provide this service so you don’t have to deal with the work 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 problems we discussed above.
We’d suggest that you complete an exterior home inspection after each season to be sure that your gutters are functioning correctly.
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.
However, 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.