7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like many homeowners, your gutters are not something you often worry about. They need regular gutter cleaning, but besides that, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until rain gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you realize just how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most roofs in Chattanooga. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner decided on copper or wood … building materials that are definitely meant to stand out! Most home exteriors are made of durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of gutters is to provide a route of minimal resistance for rain to get off your roof quickly. When they’re in good shape, your rain gutters will direct 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 wear and rust.
When they 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 reason for major home repairs! Inspecting your gutters is easy and safe. If you notice any of the following signs, it’s a pretty good clue that your gutters have some type of damage.
As soon as you notice a gutter problem, you can decide whether it’s something you are comfortable repairing or remedying on your own or if it’s a project you’d rather trust a gutter company for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the rain runoff away from your home the way they are supposed to. Pooling water can cause mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. And, it will leave the areas surrounding your house consistently wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a sign of gutter damage, 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 around that area – a possible problem 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 growing, it might just be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a situation when the advice and knowledge of a professional in Chattanooga would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll need to wait until it’s actually raining to look for this type of gutter problem. Hopefully this doesn’t mean you have gutter damage. It might just be that the gutter is full of debris and should be cleaned out. Either way, you want to have it checked right away.
Basement Leaks
Based on the construction of your basement, your leak could be due to any number of things. The pooling problem 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 important to keep your gutters in good shape!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Rain 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 disperse into the ground. However, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool where it isn’t supposed to. This rain water can kill 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 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 see water marks under the gutters or behind the downspouts. This is a typically a sign that rain 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 easiest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, 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 gutters. These inspections are in addition to any standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few easy tips Chattanooga Gutters recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least one time a year. You can lengthen the time between gutter repairs by having them cleaned out regularly. Like with anything else, the better you maintain your rain gutters, the fewer issues you’ll have with them.
The best time to clean gutters is during the spring, but to be cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners choose to clean their gutters themselves, but there are many local gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to deal with the mess or the risk.
Check 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 – should reveal any of the signs we mentioned above.
We’d suggest 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. Fixing 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 problem go on too long, you could end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire area of landscaping.