7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like a lot of homeowners, your rain gutters are not something you really worry about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is incredibly simple.
It’s not until gutters aren’t doing their job that you understand how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most houses in Warwick. They fade into the exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … building materials that are definitely designed to stand out! Most are made of durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to create a path of minimal resistance for rain to get off your roof. When they are in good condition, your rain gutters will lead runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, the foundation and basement from leaks, and the gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When they are damaged, it can cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your house and surrounding property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to fix to be the reason for major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is simple and safe. If you see any of the following issues, it’s a pretty good clue that your gutters have some kind of damage.
As soon as you notice a possible gutter issue, you can decide whether it’s something you feel comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s something you’d rather call a gutter service to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Standing water near your home is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not directing the rain runoff away from your house the way they are supposed to. Pooling water can lead to mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. Plus, it will leave the areas surrounding your home consistently wet 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 around that area – a potential issue with the rain gutters could be to blame. Keep in mind that mildew and mold are likely to grow on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where they’re appearing, it may be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. This is a scenario where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Warwick would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will have to wait until it’s actually raining to find this gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean your gutters are damaged. It could just be that the gutter is full of debris and should be cleaned. In either case, you want to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Based on the design of your basement, the leaking might be due to any number of things. The pooling issue we discussed earlier could definitely result in a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls will only block out so much water. That’s why it is necessary to keep your gutters in good condition!
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 gutter leak or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it isn’t supposed to. This water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It can also displace flower bed building materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is a lot of moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually see water marks under the rain gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a usually a sign 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 the simplest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they have damage. After a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your house to assess any damage to the roof shingles, outer walls, and rain gutters. These inspections are in addition to your routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a couple of easy ways Warwick Gutter Cleaning recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least once each year. You can lengthen the time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out regularly. As with anything else, the better you maintain your gutters, the fewer problems 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 clean their gutters themselves, but there are many local gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to handle the mess or the risk.
Inspect your gutters often. Signs of damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. A quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – will reveal any of the signs we wrote about above.
We’d recommend that you do an exterior home inspection at the end of each season to confirm that your gutters are functioning properly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Fixing 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 easily be replaced very affordably and quickly.
However, if you let the issue go on too long, you could end up making repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.