Damage Caused by Gutter Blockages
Rain water can easily cause a lot of damage to your home if it is not channeled away through the proper means. For a home with a roof that is 1,500 square feet, one inch in, ‘depth of precipitation’ or rain produces 1,000 gallons of runoff. If all this water is not channeled away safely, it could easily cause a lot of damage to your roof and to the rest of your house including the foundation and close surrounding areas. This is why having well designed and properly installed gutters is important for every home.
Importance of maintaining gutters
Even when you have well designed and built gutters, it is still essential that you make sure that they are always in perfect working order. The biggest issue that gutters face is blockage caused by debris that renders them ineffective or at least, not as efficient as they should be.
When blockages happen, the weight of debris and still water (caused by the blockage) can easily cause damage to the gutter itself.
This is why ensuring regular maintenance and inspection of your gutter system is important. The last thing that you want to happen is for your basement to flood or for your house’s foundation to be compromised due to lack of proper gutter maintenance. To say the least, it will cost you much less to maintain your gutter than it will to repair your houses foundation or basement. So why not just get it done immediately?
Signs that your gutter needs immediate attention
If you have not been maintaining your gutters, or if the job has not been done well, the following signs should signal you that you need a skilled professional to come and do the job for you.
- A saggy ceiling and a leaking roof.
- Mold, moss and or dampness on the outside of your walls
- Paint or wallpaper damage on the inside walls of your house
- Unsightly cosmetic damage to the side of your house caused by rainwater splash back damage.
- Rotten fascia boards
- Cracked foundations and
- Damaged landscaping
What to do when you notice damage
If you notice any of the signs listed above, the immediate thing to do is to call a gutter professional to come and diagnose whether the damage could be due to gutter damage. What you should avoid doing is fixing the symptoms of the larger problem caused by gutter damage. If you simply fix a wall or re-do the painting, the problem is still very likely to happen again, since you will not have fixed the cause of your problems which is a damaged, poorly installed or badly designed gutter.
