7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like a lot of people, your rain gutters aren’t something you often worry about. They need regular gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is incredibly simple.
It’s not until your gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you realize just how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go virtually unnoticed on most homes in Redwood City. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … materials that are definitely designed to stand out! Most home exteriors 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 and snow to get off your roof as fast as possible. When they are in good condition, your rain gutters will direct runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaks, and the rain gutters themselves from 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 repair to be the reason for major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is simple and safe. If you see any of the following issues, it’s a good indication that your gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you identify a possible 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 should trust a gutter company for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water is a good sign that your gutters or downspouts are not directing the water runoff away from your home the way they should be. 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 house constantly soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Either one of these is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or on the exterior of your home. Mold and mildew mean there is a lot of moisture in that area – a potential problem with the rain gutters could be the cause. Remember that mildew and mold are likely to grow on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where these substances are appearing, it might just be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. This is a scenario when the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Redwood City would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll have to wait until it’s raining to notice this gutter problem. Hopefully this doesn’t mean your gutters are damaged. It could just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and should be cleaned out. Either way, you need to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your home’s basement, the leaking might be due to any number of things. The standing water issue we discussed before could definitely cause a basement leak. Egress windows and cinder block walls will only block out so much water. That’s why it is so important 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 laid out to work with this flow of water to help it disperse into the ground. But, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool where it isn’t supposed to. This pooling water can destroy plants either by force or by overwatering. It can also displace flower bed materials like mulch or rock.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You usually see water marks under the gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a typically a sign that 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 the easiest to spot. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they have damage. After a storm, it’s a smart 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 some easy ways Redwood City Gutters & More! recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time each year. You can lengthen the time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out. Like with anything else, the better you maintain your rain gutters, the fewer issues you’ll have with them.
The recommended time to clean gutters is in the spring, but to be cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners clean their gutters on their own, but there are professional gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to handle the work or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can 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 wrote about above.
We’d recommend that you do an exterior home inspection after each season to be sure 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 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.
But, 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 section of landscaping.