7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like a lot of people, your gutters are not something you really think about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but besides that, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until your gutters aren’t doing their job that you realize just how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most homes in Durham. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … materials that are definitely meant to stand out! Most home exteriors are made of durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of 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, protecting your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the foundation and basement from leaking water, and the gutters themselves from rust.
When they are damaged, it can cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and surrounding property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to repair to be the cause of any major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is simple and safe. If you notice any of the following issues, it’s a strong indication that your gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you notice a gutter problem, you can decide whether it’s something you feel comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you’d rather call a gutter service to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending the rain runoff away from your house the way they are designed to. Standing water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. Plus, it will make the areas around your house consistently wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Either one of these is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the gutters or on the exterior of your home. Mold and mildew mean there is a lot of moisture in that area – a potential issue with the gutters could be to blame. Remember that mildew and mold are more likely to appear on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where they’re growing, it might just be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a scenario where the advice and expertise of a professional in Durham would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll have to wait until it’s actually raining to notice this type of gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that your gutters are damaged. It could just be that the gutter is full of debris and needs to be cleaned out. Either way, you want to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your basement, your leak might be caused by any number of things. The standing water 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 necessary to keep your gutters in good shape!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters pour directly onto the ground most of the time, and landscaping should be designed to work with this flow of water to help it submerge into the ground. However, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This pooling water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It might also displace flower bed building materials like rock or mulch.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is too much moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You usually find water marks right beneath the gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a typically an indication that water is running down the outside of the gutters and not staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The final sign of gutter damage is by far the simplest to spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they definitely have damage. Following a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your home to assess any possible 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 a few simple ways Durham Gutter Defense recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time a year. You can lengthen the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out. As with anything else, the better you care for your gutters, the fewer issues you’ll have with them.
The optimal time to clean out gutters is during the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Most homeowners choose to clean their gutters on their own, but there are many professional gutter cleaning companies that provide this service so you don’t have to deal with the work or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. A fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the issues we wrote about above.
We’d recommend that you complete an exterior home inspection following each season to ensure that your gutters are functioning properly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Fixing 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 be replaced very affordably.
However, if you let the issue go on too long, you could end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.