7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you are like most people, your rain gutters aren’t something you really think about. They need regular gutter cleaning, but otherwise, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until your rain gutters aren’t doing what they’re supposed to that you realize just how important they are for your home!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go virtually unnoticed on most roofs in Novi. They blend into the exterior unless the homeowner decided on copper or wood … building materials that are definitely designed to stand out! Most home exteriors are crafted from durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The point of rain gutters is to create a path of least resistance for rain to get off your roof as fast as possible. When they are in good condition, your rain gutters will route runoff away from the foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mold and mildew, the foundation and basement from leaking water, and the rain gutters themselves from wear and rust.
When they are damaged, it can cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to fix to be the cause of any major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is easy and safe. If you identify any of the following signs, it’s a pretty strong clue that your gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you notice a gutter issue, you can decide if it’s something you feel comfortable repairing or remedying on your own or if it’s something you should trust a gutter repairman to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Sitting water 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 cause mold, weakening of your foundation, and provides the perfect habitat for mosquitoes. And, it will make the areas surrounding your home consistently soggy and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a sign of gutter damage, whether you see mold or mildew on the gutters or the exterior of your home. Mold and mildew mean there is too much moisture in that area – a potential issue with the rain gutters could be the cause. Keep in mind that mildew and mold are likely to appear on the north side of a home anyway, so if that’s where they’re appearing, it might just be because that area gets very little direct sunlight. This is a situation where the advice and knowledge of a gutter specialist in Novi would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You will need to wait until it’s actually raining to notice this type of gutter issue. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that your gutters are damaged. It might just be that the gutter is full of debris and needs to be cleaned. In either case, you want to have it checked ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Depending on the design of your home’s basement, your leak could be due to any number of things. The standing water problem we mentioned 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 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 designed to work with this flow of water to help it disperse into the ground. But, a gutter leak or clogged gutter will cause rainfall to overflow or pool where it shouldn’t. This pooling water can destroy plants by force or by overwatering. It might also displace flower bed building materials like rock or mulch.
Water Marks
Water marks are a visible sign that there is excessive moisture on a surface. Water marks are left behind even if standing water has evaporated or dissipated. You will usually find water marks right beneath the gutters or directly behind the downspouts. This is a typically a sign that rain water is pouring down the outside of the gutters rather than staying inside of them.
Visible Gutter Damage
The final sign of gutter damage is by far the easiest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked, they have damage. Following a storm, it’s a smart idea to walk around your house to identify any possible damage to the roof, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any standard home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are some simple tips Novi Gutter Cleaning recommends to help prevent gutter damage:
Clean your gutters out at least once a year. You can extend the amount of time between gutter repairs by having them cleaned out regularly. Like with anything else, the better you care for your gutters, the less issues you’ll have with them.
The optimal time to clean out gutters is in 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 many professional gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to deal with the work 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 problems we wrote about above.
We’d recommend that you do an exterior home inspection at the end of each season to confirm that your gutters are functioning correctly.
When you see signs of gutter damage, act fast. Fixing 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.
However, if you let the problem go on for too long, you could end up needing repairs in your basement, replacing expensive vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.