7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like many people, your rain gutters are not something you really worry about. They need regular gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their purpose is incredibly simple.
It’s not until rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you realize just how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most roofs in Fishers. They fade into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner decided on copper or wood … building materials that are designed to stand out! Most are crafted from durable but lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to provide a path of least resistance for rain to get off your roof. When they are in good shape, your rain gutters will route 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 rain gutters themselves from wear and 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 simple to fix to be the reason for major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is easy and safe. If you see any of the following issues, it’s a good clue that your rain gutters have some kind of damage.
As soon as you notice a gutter issue, you can decide whether it’s something you are comfortable fixing or remedying by yourself or if it’s a project you’d rather hire a gutter company for.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Sitting 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 should be. Standing water can lead to mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. And, it will leave the areas surrounding your home perpetually soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a sign of gutter damage, whether you see mold or mildew on the rain gutters or on the exterior of your home. Mold and mildew indicate there is a lot of moisture in that area – a possible problem with the rain gutters could be the cause. Keep in mind that mold and mildew are likely to grow on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where they’re appearing, it may just be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight on it. This is a scenario where the advice and knowledge of a professional in Fishers would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s actually raining to find this gutter problem. Hopefully this doesn’t mean you have gutter damage. It could just be that the gutter is full of debris and needs to be cleaned. Either way, you want to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your home’s basement, your leak might be caused by any number of things. The standing water problem we discussed earlier could definitely lead to a basement leak. Egress windows and even cinder block walls will only block 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 in areas where it isn’t supposed to. This standing water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It can 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 sometimes left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You will usually find water marks right beneath the rain gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a usually a sign that rain 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 find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they definitely have damage. Following a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to identify any damage to the roof shingles, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a couple of simple ways Fishers Gutters & More! recommends to prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least one time a year. You can extend the amount of time between gutter repairs by having them cleaned out. Like with anything else, the better you maintain your rain gutters, the fewer problems 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. A lot of homeowners clean their gutters themselves, but there are many local gutter cleaning companies that provide this service so you don’t have to deal with the work or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of gutter damage can be visible from the outside of the gutters. A fast inspection – with both feet firmly on the ground – will reveal any of the issues we wrote about above.
We’d recommend that you do an exterior home inspection after each season to ensure that your gutters are functioning properly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Taking care of an issue 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 problem go on too long, you could end up making repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.