7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like most people, your gutters aren’t something you really worry about. They need routine gutter cleaning, but besides that, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you understand how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most houses in Aurora. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner chose copper or wood … building materials that are definitely meant to stand out! Most are crafted from durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of rain gutters is to provide a route of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof as fast as possible. When they are in good shape, your rain gutters will direct runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, the foundation and basement from leaking water, and the gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your house and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too easy to fix 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 strong indication that your rain gutters have some type of damage.
As soon as you identify 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 should call a gutter company for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling 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 are designed to. Standing water can lead to mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. And, it will make the areas around your home perpetually soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or the exterior of your house. Mold and mildew mean that there is excessive moisture around that area – a possible problem with the rain gutters could be to blame. 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 these substances are appearing, it may be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a situation when the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Aurora would be a great help.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s raining to discover this gutter problem. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that your gutters are damaged. It could just be that the gutter is clogged with debris and should be cleaned out. In either case, you want to have it looked at right away.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your home’s basement, your leak could be due to any number of things. The pooling issue we mentioned before could definitely cause a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls can only block out so much water. That’s why it is so important to keep your gutters in working order!
Landscaping or Lawn Damage
Gutters pour directly onto the ground most of the time, and landscaping should be laid out to work with this water flow to help it disperse into the ground. However, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool in areas where it isn’t supposed to. This pooling 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 a visible 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 will usually see water marks under the 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 last sign of gutter damage is by far the easiest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they obviously have damage. Following a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your home to assess any damage to the roof, outer walls, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to your routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some simple tips PRO Aurora Gutters recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters at least once a year. You can extend the amount of time between gutter repairs by keeping them cleaned out. As with anything else, the better you maintain your gutters, the fewer issues you’ll have with them.
The best time to clean gutters is in the spring, but to be cautious, give them a cleaning in the fall, too. Many homeowners clean their gutters on their own, but there are professional gutter cleaning companies that provide this service so you don’t have to handle 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 – will reveal any of the problems we discussed above.
We’d suggest that you do an exterior home inspection after each season to be sure that your gutters are working correctly.
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.
But, if you let the problem go on too long, you might end up making repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.