7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like most homeowners, your rain gutters are not something you often worry about. They need regular gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their purpose is very simple.
It’s not until rain gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you understand how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go virtually unnoticed on most homes in Pleasanton. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … materials that are meant to stand out! Most are crafted from durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to provide a route of minimal resistance for rain to get off your roof as fast as possible. When they’re in good condition, your gutters will lead runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, 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 house 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 easy and safe. If you notice any of the following issues, it’s a pretty strong indication that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
As soon as you notice a possible gutter problem, you can decide if it’s something you feel comfortable repairing or remedying by yourself or if it’s something you should hire a gutter company to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Standing water near your home is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not routing the rain runoff away from your home the way they are designed to. Standing water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. And, it will make the areas surrounding your house perpetually 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 house. Mold and mildew mean there is excessive moisture around that area – a possible issue with the gutters could be to blame. Remember that mold and mildew are likely to appear on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where these substances are growing, it might just be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a time where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Pleasanton would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s raining to notice 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 out. Either way, you need to have it looked at right away.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the construction of your basement, the leaking might be caused by any number of things. The pooling issue we discussed before could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls will only keep out so much water. That’s why it is necessary to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Rain gutters empty directly onto the ground in most cases, and landscaping should be designed to work with this flow of water to help it disperse into the ground. However, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This pooling rain water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It might 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 sometimes left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated into the ground. You will usually see water marks right under the rain gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a usually a sign 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 easiest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they definitely have damage. Following a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your home to assess any possible damage to the roof, outer walls, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a couple of easy ways Prime Pleasanton Gutters recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time a year. You can extend the time between gutter repairs by having them cleaned out. Like with anything else, the better you care for your gutters, the less issues you’ll have with them.
The recommended time to clean gutters is during the spring, but to be cautious, give them a good cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners choose to 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 damage can often be visible from the outside of the gutters. Just a quick inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – should reveal any of the issues we mentioned above.
We’d suggest that you do an exterior home inspection at the end of each season to confirm that your gutters are working correctly.
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 issue go on too long, you might end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.