It can be frustrating to look out your window and see water pouring from a gutter rather than being directed through it and away from your home. Those leaky gutters can be more than an annoyance: They can cause expensive damage to your home if they’re not taken care of.
Some of the many problems that can be caused by leaking gutters include:
• Rot. Water running from your gutters can cause many of your home’s components to rot away or become warped from water damage, including your fascia, roof, siding and decks or porches.
• Pooling water around your home’s base. When gutters fail to direct water away from your home’s foundation, it allows water to pool around your home’s foundation. At the very least, that can cause flooding in your basement, but it can cause major problems, such as mold growth, foundation cracks and even foundation collapse.
• Landscape damage. Water rushing from your gutters into your landscape can kills plants or wash away soil, rocks or other landscape features.
• Detached gutters. Leaking gutters can become so damaged that they can detach completely from your house, damaging your roof, fascia or siding, and causing a hazard to your car, pets or anyone standing nearby.
• Stains. When water runs down the side of your home, or across your driveway or patio, it can cause unsightly stains to form on your siding, walkways or concrete surfaces.
• Standing water. If your gutters are completely blocked, that can lead to standing water within your gutters. Standing water can create ice dams in the winter, cause gutters to overflow, or it can give mosquitos a place to breed, causing a major infestation near your home.
How to spot gutter leaks
It can be beneficial to examine your gutters each spring after a heavy rainfall. Take a walk around your home and look for areas where water is pouring or dripping from gutters, rather than diverting to downspouts. Take an especially careful look at the joints between the downspouts and the rest of the gutters or other seams in the gutters, as those areas are most vulnerable to developing leaks. Another sign you may have leaking gutters is sudden flooding in your basement or along exterior walls of your home or staining on the sides of your home or on the concrete underneath your gutters.
What to do about leaking gutters
As we’ve demonstrated, leaking gutters can cause extensive damage to your home that can be frustrating and expensive to fix. If you notice a leak in your gutters, don’t hesitate to call The Gutterman of Tennessee. We can inspect the leak and recommend the best course of action for repairing or replacing your gutters. Most importantly, don’t delay having your leaking gutters repaired! A minor repair cost now can save you from a major expense and a major home improvement problem later.