7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like a lot of people, your rain gutters aren’t something you really think about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but besides that, their purpose is incredibly simple.
It’s not until your gutters aren’t doing their job that you understand how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most homes in Duluth. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … materials that are meant to stand out! Most home exteriors are crafted from durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of gutters is to provide a route of minimal resistance for rain to get off your roof quickly. When they are in good shape, your gutters will direct runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the foundation and basement from leaks, and the rain gutters themselves from rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and surrounding property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to repair to be the cause of major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is easy and safe. If you notice any of the following signs, it’s a good indication that your rain gutters have some type of damage.
Once you notice a gutter issue, you can decide if it’s something you are comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s something you’d rather hire a gutter specialist for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Standing water near your home is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the water runoff away from your home the way they should be. Pooling water can cause mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. Plus, it will leave the areas around 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 gutters or on the sides of your home. Mold and mildew mean there is excessive moisture in that area – a possible issue with the rain gutters could be the cause. Remember that mildew and mold are likely to grow on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it may just be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight on it. This is a scenario when the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Duluth would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will have to wait until it’s actually raining to find this gutter problem. Hopefully this doesn’t mean your gutters are damaged. It might 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
Based on the construction of your basement, the leaking could be caused by any number of things. The standing water problem we discussed earlier could definitely cause a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls can only keep out so much water. That’s why it is necessary to keep your gutters in good condition!
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 submerge into the ground. But, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it shouldn’t. This standing rain water can kill plants either by force or by overwatering. It will also displace flower bed building materials like rock or mulch.
Water Marks
Water marks are the first sign that there is a lot of moisture on a surface. Water marks are sometimes left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You will usually see water marks right beneath the rain gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a typically an indication that water is pouring 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 in the middle, they definitely have damage. After a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your home to identify any possible damage to the roof, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to your standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few easy ways Duluth Gutter Service recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time each year. You can lengthen the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out. As with anything else, the better you care for your gutters, the less issues you’ll have with them.
The best time to clean out gutters is during the spring, but to be cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners clean their gutters themselves, but there are many professional gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to handle the mess or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. A fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the issues we discussed above.
We’d suggest that you do an exterior home inspection following each season to confirm that your gutters are working properly.
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 issue go on too long, you could end up making repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.