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 besides that, their purpose is very simple.
It’s not until gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you understand how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most houses in Tinley Park. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … building materials that are meant to stand out! Most home exteriors 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 to get off your roof. When they’re in good condition, your gutters will lead runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, the concrete and pavement 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 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 clue that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you find a gutter issue, you can decide if it’s something you feel comfortable repairing or remedying on your own or if it’s a project you’d rather hire a gutter repairman for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Sitting water near your home is a good sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the water runoff away from your home the way they are designed to. Standing water can lead to mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. Plus, it will leave the areas around 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 on the sides of your house. Mold and mildew mean that there is too much moisture in that area – a potential issue with the gutters could be to blame. Remember that mold and mildew are more likely to appear on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where they’re appearing, it may be because that area gets very little direct sunlight on it. This is a time when the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Tinley Park would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s raining to notice this type of gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that your gutters are damaged. It might 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
Based on the construction of your home’s basement, your leak might be due to any number of things. The standing water issue we mentioned before could definitely result in a basement leak. Egress windows and 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 water flow 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 rain water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It will 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 left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You will usually see water marks beneath the gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a typically an indication that rain water is running down the outside of the gutters and not 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, they obviously have damage. After a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to identify any possible damage to the roof shingles, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some easy tips ACE Gutter Cleaning recommends to help 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 gutters, the fewer problems you’ll experience with them.
The optimal time to clean out gutters is during the spring, but to be cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Most homeowners choose to clean their gutters themselves, but there are many professional gutter cleaning companies that provide this service so you don’t have to handle the work or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the problems we mentioned above.
We’d suggest that you complete an exterior home inspection at the end of each season to confirm that your gutters are functioning 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 a lot of 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 issue go on too long, you might end up making repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.