7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like many homeowners, your rain gutters are not something you really think about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you realize just how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most roofs in Orland Park. They fade into the exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … building materials that are meant to stand out! Most home exteriors are crafted from durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of gutters is to create a route of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof quickly. When they are in good shape, your gutters will direct runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, protecting your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaks, and the gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can cause 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 cause of major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is simple and safe. If you notice any of the following issues, it’s a pretty strong clue that your rain gutters have some type of damage.
Once you identify a gutter problem, you can decide if it’s something you feel comfortable repairing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you’d rather hire a gutter company to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water near your home is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the rain runoff away from your house the way they are supposed to. Standing water can lead to mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. And, it will leave the areas around your house consistently wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or on the sides of your house. Mold and mildew mean that there is excessive moisture around that area – a possible problem with the gutters could be the cause. Keep in mind that mold and mildew are more likely to grow on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where they’re growing, it may be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a scenario where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Orland Park would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll have to wait until it’s raining to find this type of gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that you have gutter damage. It could just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and needs to be cleaned. Either way, you want to have it looked at right away.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your home’s 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 can only block out so much water. That’s why it is important to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Rain gutters empty directly onto the ground most of the time, and landscaping should be laid out to work with this flow of water to help it disperse into the ground. But, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it shouldn’t. This water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It will also displace flower bed building materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are sometimes left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually find water marks under the gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a typically an indication that water is pouring down the outside of the gutters rather than staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The last sign of gutter damage is 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 house to assess any damage to the roof, outer walls, and rain gutters. These inspections are in addition to your routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some simple ways Orland Park Gutters recommends to 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 regularly. Like with anything else, the better you maintain your rain gutters, the fewer problems you’ll have with them.
The optimal time to clean out gutters is in the spring, but to be extra cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. A lot of 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 deal with the work or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – will reveal any of the signs we mentioned above.
We’d recommend that you complete an exterior home inspection after 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 time and money. A small crack, for example, can be sealed, or the section of gutter with the crack can be replaced very affordably.
But, if you let the problem go on too long, you could end up making repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.