Are Your Gutters Leaking?
Gutters are very important because – although they are simple and relatively inexpensive – they protect more valuable home assets, such as the roof, foundation and windows. Caring for and cleaning gutters is an easy way to help protect your house from damages.
And it’s much easier than you might think.
Identifying a leak in your gutters early can protect an entire house. In this blog post, we’ve listed a few indicators that you can be on the lookout for (without calling a roofer) to determine if you have a gutter leaking.
How to Identify a Leaking Gutter
There are a number of warning signs that point to leaking gutters, even if you don’t actually see water dripping. You can do a visual inspection from the lawn to determine if the signs of a leaking gutter are there.
Here are some things to look for:
Visible Flaws – When the gutters pull away from the home, it causes stress on the connectors. Cracks can be caused by poor installation, poor quality materials, storm damage or general wear and tear. Cracks in the gutter channel or seeing any section of them pulling away from the home may not be causing a leak just yet, but will certainly create issues. Getting these defects repaired is more affordable than replacing gutters or any of the possible damages a leak can cause.
Pooling – If rain is puddling around your home, it’s a possible sign that a gutter leak is present. But you should also check pipes, water spigots and any water source that is close to your house, just to be careful.
Pooling water near your home can be very harmful for the foundation. It’s also bad for landscaping and could cause your windows to leak.
Drips – One of the most visible signs of a gutter leak is a drip, or several of them.
A drip from your rain gutter is likely a clog, but if it’s coming from the bottom and it isn’t a big overflow, there is a hidden leak somewhere. These minor leaks can happen if a fastener has gotten loose (see the next item below).
Visible Fasteners – Seeing nails and screws wiggling their way out of the rain gutters likely means a leak will start soon, if it hasn’t already. The hole where the nail or screw fits becomes a new area where water can escape if the fastener starts to fall out.
Sometimes the solution is as simple as tightening them, but it might also be necessary to seal the hole so no water can leak from the edge of the screw or the nail, even after it is tightened again. You can purchase 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. Darker water stains will appear because dirt and other debris adhere 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 on gutters can be cleaned and the gutters repaired, but if the gutters are rusty, they will definitely need to be repaired or be replaced.
Unexplained Home Damage – If there hasn’t recently been a severe storm, and you haven’t had a limb fall on top of your roof, but you’re starting to notice 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 somewhere it shouldn’t. They also are related to aging building materials, so all of these factors need to be considered when inspecting gutters for leaks.
Other gutter issues…
Not all gutter issues lead to major repairs. If you see these common gutter issues, a gutter leak may not be the problem.
Rain Overflow – This issue is usually an easy fix. It’s likely not a gutter leak, but a clog that needs to be cleaned out. You can do this or hire a Taunton gutter cleaning company – even a general handyman – to clean them out.
Animal Nests – A small bird, squirrel, chipmunk can build a nest in your gutters or in your downspout, which will cause overflow. Once the nest has been there for a little while, 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 easily take root in your rain gutter with small amounts of debris present. While it may be little now, a sapling will sprout strong roots that can destroy aluminum gutters before you even know it.
Professional Gutter Repair
Any of these obvious signs mean there are issues with your rain gutter that must be addressed right away. By checking all of your gutters and downspouts, you can see if there’s a reason for concern.
This is when a professional gutter service in Taunton can be of great help. They can distinguish if gutter replacement is necessary or if you can get by with repairs to extend the lifetime of your home’s gutters. Sometimes, gutter cleaning is all that’s needed.
Some homeowners choose to do simple gutter care and maintenance, such as gutter cleaning, themselves. Although it it can be time consuming and dangerous, they are ready to complete the project 1-2 times a year to save a little money.
However, anything beyond basic gutter cleaning should be left to the professionals.
Start by finding a gutter specialist with excellent customer reviews like True Clean Gutters. Then let us do a full inspection to correctly determine the problem. We provide free inspections for new customers.
If there are any gutter repairs to be made, or if we believe that it’s time to install new gutters, you can trust us to get the job done right. Our gutter repair service will save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run!