Are Your Gutters Leaking?
Rain Gutters are so important because – despite being simple and inexpensive – they protect more valuable home components, like the roof, foundation and windows. Maintaining and cleaning rain gutters is an easy way to help protect your home from damages.
And it’s much simpler than you might think.
Identifying a leaking gutter early can protect the entire house. In this blog post, we’ve provided a few indicators that you can be on the lookout for (without calling a roof specialist) to see if your gutters may be leaking.
How to Identify a Leaking Gutter
There are many warning signs that point to leaking gutters, even if you don’t notice water dripping. You can do an inspection from the ground to determine if the signs of a leaking gutter are present.
Here are some things to look for:
Obvious Flaws – When the gutters pull away from the home, it stresses the fasteners. Cracks can be the result of poor installation, poor quality materials, storm damage or general wear and tear. Cracks in the gutter channel or seeing any part of them pulling away from the house might not cause a leak just yet, but these things will definitely result in problems. Getting these defects repaired is affordable than installing new gutters or any of the possible damages a leak can cause.
Pooling Water – If rain is puddling around your house, it’s a possible sign that a gutter leak is probably present. But you should also check underground pipes, water spigots and any water source that is close to your house, just to be careful.
Pooling water by your house can be especially bad for the foundation. It’s also bad for landscaping and can cause your windows to leak.
Dripping – One of the more noticeable signs of a gutter leak is a drip, or several of them.
A drip coming from your gutter is likely a clog, but if it’s coming from the bottom of the gutter and it isn’t a big overflow, there is an unseen leak somewhere. These small leaks can happen if a fastener has gotten loose (see the next item on our list).
Visible Fasteners – Finding nails and screws working their way out of the gutters means a leak will begin soon, if it hasn’t already. The hole where the nail or screw fits in starts to become a new area where water can get out if the fastener works its way out.
Sometimes the solution is as easy as tightening them, but it might also be important to seal the hole so no water can leak from the edge of the screw or nail, even after it is back in place. You can buy this sealant, or let a gutter repair company apply it.
Water Stains or Rust – Moisture leaves evidence behind, especially if it is consistently or frequently present. Dark water stains will appear because dirt and other organic debris stick to the wet surface better than it would a dry one.
Rust is the result of nearly constant moisture, and the more extreme sign you’ll notice after water stains. water stains can be cleaned away and the gutters fixed, but if gutters are rusty, they definitely have to be repaired or be replaced.
Unexplained Home Damage – If there hasn’t recently been a severe storm, and you haven’t had a tree limb fall on your roof, but you’re beginning to see paint flaking, cracking in the foundation around the downspouts or walkways, rotting wood on your patio or deck, or moldy window sills, you could have leaking gutters.
These are all indications that water has been leaking from a place it shouldn’t be. They also go hand in hand with older building materials, so all of these factors need to be considered when inspecting gutters for leaks.
Other gutter issues…
Not every gutter issue leads to major repairs. If you see these common gutter issues, a gutter leak might not be the problem.
Rain Overflow – This one is usually an easy fix. It’s probably not a gutter leak, but a clog that has to be cleaned out. You can do this yourself or hire a CITY gutter cleaning company – even a general handyman – to clean out the gutters.
Animal Nests – A bird, squirrel, chipmunk or other pest can build a nest in your rain gutters or downspout, which can cause overflow. Once the nest has been there awhile, you will start to see some of the above signs of a leak in a gutter – like rust or pooling – if you don’t get rid of the nest.
Trees & Plants – A tree can take root in your gutter with minimal debris present. While it may be small now, a tree sapling will sprout strong roots that can damage aluminum gutters before you know it.
Professional Gutter Repair
Any of these obvious signs indicate there are issues with your rain gutter that have to be addressed immediately. By quickly checking all of your gutters and downspouts, you can tell if there’s a reason for concern.
This is when a professional gutter service in CITY can be of great help. They can determine if gutter replacement is necessary or if you can get by with repairs to extend the lifetime of your home’s gutters. Sometimes, basic gutter cleaning is the only thing that’s needed.
Homeowners can choose to do simple gutter care, like gutter cleaning, on their own. Although it it can be time consuming and sometimes dangerous, they are ready to take on the project a couple of times a year to save some money.
However, any job beyond basic gutter cleaning should be left to the professionals.
Start by calling a gutter service with good customer reviews like Novi Gutter Cleaning. Then let us do a full inspection to accurately diagnose the issue. We offer free inspections for potential customers.
If there are any gutter repairs to be made, or if we think that it’s time to install new gutters, you can trust us to get the job done. Our gutter repair service can save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run!