7 Signs of Gutter Damage on Your Home
If you’re like a lot of homeowners, your rain gutters aren’t something you often think about. They need biannual gutter cleaning, but besides that, their functionality is very simple.
It’s not until rain gutters aren’t doing their job that you understand just how important they are!
WHAT DO GUTTERS DO?
Gutters and downspouts go unnoticed on most houses in Muskegon. They blend into the home’s exterior unless the homeowner has opted for copper or wood … materials that are meant to stand out! Most are made of durable yet lightweight aluminum or vinyl siding.
The purpose of rain gutters is to create a path of minimal resistance for rain and snow to get off your roof quickly. When they are in good shape, your rain gutters will route runoff away from the home’s foundation and landscaping, will protect your home’s exterior from mildew and mold, the concrete and pavement and basement from leaking water, and the gutters themselves from rust.
When gutters are damaged, it can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to your home and property.
ARE YOUR GUTTERS DAMAGED?
Gutter damage is too simple to repair to be the cause of any major home repairs! Keeping an eye on your gutters is simple and safe. If you see any of the following issues, it’s a strong indication that your gutters have some kind of damage.
Once you find a possible gutter issue, you can decide whether it’s something you are comfortable fixing or remedying on your own or if it’s something you should call a gutter company to handle.
Sitting Water Near Your Home
Pooling water is a sure sign that your gutters or downspouts are not sending the water runoff away from your house the way they are designed to. Standing water can result in mold, weakening of your foundation, and creates the perfect habitat for pesky mosquitoes. And, it will make the areas around your home consistently wet and muddy.
Mold or Mildew
Mold or mildew is a bad sign, whether you see mold or mildew on the gutters or on the exterior of your home. Mold and mildew mean that there is excessive moisture in that area – a potential issue with the gutters could be to blame. Remember that mold and mildew are likely to grow on the north side of a house anyway, so if that’s where they’re growing, it may just be because that area doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight on it. This is a scenario when the advice and expertise of a gutter specialist in Muskegon would be helpful.
Rain Pouring Over the Gutter
You’ll have 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 clogged with debris and needs to be cleaned. In either case, you need to have it looked at ASAP.
Basement Leaks
Based on the design of your home’s basement, the leaking might be caused by any number of things. The standing water issue we discussed earlier could definitely result in 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 good shape!
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. However, a leaking gutter or clogged gutter will allow rainfall to overflow or pool where it isn’t supposed to. This water can destroy plants either by force or by overwatering. It can also displace flower bed building materials like rock or mulch.
Water Marks
Water marks are a visible sign that there is a lot of moisture on a surface. Water marks are sometimes left behind even if pooling water has evaporated or dissipated. You will usually find water marks beneath the rain gutters or 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 the simplest to find. If your gutters are bent, sagging or cracked in the middle, they have damage. After a storm, it’s a good idea to walk around your home to assess any possible damage to the roof, exterior, and gutters. These inspections are in addition to any routine home inspections.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR GUTTERS?
Here are a few simple ways Muskegon Gutters 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. As with anything else, the better you maintain your gutters, the fewer problems you’ll experience with them.
The recommended time to clean out 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 themselves, but there are professional gutter cleaning companies that offer this service so you don’t have to handle the mess or the risk.
Check your gutters often. Signs of gutter 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 issues we mentioned above.
We’d suggest that you complete an exterior home inspection following each season to be sure that your gutters are working the right way.
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 be replaced very affordably and quickly.
However, if you let the issue go on for too long, you might end up making repairs in your basement, replacing vinyl siding or redoing an entire section of landscaping.