Are Your Gutters Leaking?
Gutters are very important because – while they are simple and relatively inexpensive – they protect more valuable home assets, like the roof, foundation and windows. Maintaining and cleaning rain gutters is an easy way to help protect your house from damages.
And it’s really much easier than you probably think.
Identifying a gutter leak early can protect the entire home. In this blog post, we’ve provided a few signs that you can look for (without calling a roof specialist) to determine if you have a gutter leaking.
How to Identify a Leaking Gutter
There are a number of signs that indicate a gutter leak, even if you don’t physically notice water dripping. You can do an inspection from the safety of your ground to determine if the signs of a gutter leak are there.
Here are some things to keep an eye out for:
Obvious Flaws – When the gutters pull away from the house, it causes stress on the connectors. Cracks can be the result of poor installation, low quality materials, storm damage or age. Cracks in the gutter or seeing any section of them pulling away from the roofing might not cause a leak yet, but these things will ultimately cause issues. Having these defects fixed is a lot more affordable than installing new gutters or any of the damages a leak can lead to.
Pooling Water – If rain is pooling around your home, it’s a possible sign that a gutter leak is present. You should also check underground pipes, water spigots and any other water source that is close to your home, just to be sure.
Pooling water by your house can be very damaging for the foundation. It’s also bad for landscaping and might cause windows to leak.
Dripping – One of the more noticeable signs of a leaking gutter is a drip, or several of them.
A drip from your rain gutter indicates a clog, but if it’s coming from the bottom of the gutter and it isn’t overflowing, there is an unseen leak. These minor leaks will happen if a fastener has become loose (see the next item on our list).
Visible Fasteners – Finding nails and screws working their way out of the rain gutters means a leak is going to start soon, if it hasn’t already. The hole where the nail or screw fits in starts to become a new area where water can escape if the fastener works its way out.
Sometimes the solution is as simple as tightening them, but it may also be necessary to seal the hole so no water can leak from around the screw or nail, even after it is tightened again. You can purchase this type of sealant, or let a gutter repair company put it on.
Water Stains or Rust – Moisture leaves evidence behind, especially if it is consistently or frequently there. Dark water stains will appear because dirt and other debris stick to the moist surface better than it would a dry one.
Rust is the result of constant moisture, and the more severe sign you’ll see after you see water stains. water stains on gutters can be cleaned and the gutters can be repaired, but if gutters are rusty, they definitely need to be repaired or be replaced.
Unexplained Home Damage – If there hasn’t been a severe storm, and you haven’t had a tree limb fall on your roof, but you’re starting to see paint flaking, cracking in the foundation or walkways, decaying wood on your patio or deck, or mold on your window sills, you might have a gutter leak.
These are all signs that water has been leaking from somewhere it shouldn’t be. They also go hand in hand with aging building materials, so all factors need to be considered when inspecting gutters for leaks.
Other gutter issues…
Not every gutter issue leads to major repairs. If you see these common gutter issues, a gutter leak might not be the issue.
Rain Overflow – This one is a pretty simple fix. It’s likely not a gutter leak, but a clog that needs to be cleaned out. You can do this yourself or hire a Dearborn gutter cleaning company – even a general handyman – to clean out the gutters.
Animal Nests – A bird, squirrel, chipmunk can quickly build a nest in your gutters or downspout, which will also cause overflow. Once the nest has been there for a little while, you will start seeing some of the above signs of leaks – like rust or pooling – if you don’t get rid of the nest.
Trees & Plants – A tree can easily take root in your gutter with little debris present. While it may be little now, a tree sapling will sprout really strong roots that can destroy aluminum gutters before you even know it.
Professional Gutter Repair
Any of these obvious signs mean there are problems with your gutter that need to be addressed right away. By checking all of your gutters and downspouts, you can tell if there’s a reason for concern.
This is when a gutter service in Dearborn can be helpful. They can distinguish whether 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 the only thing that’s needed.
Some homeowners decide to do basic gutter care, such as gutter cleaning, themselves. Although it it can be time consuming and somewhat dangerous, they are willing to complete the project 1-2 times each year to save some money.
However, any job beyond simple gutter cleaning is best left to the professionals.
Start by hiring a gutter service with good customer reviews like Dearborn Gutter Solutions. Then let us do an inspection to correctly determine the problem. We offer free inspections for new customers.
If there are any gutter repairs to be made, or if we feel that it’s time for gutter replacement, you can trust us to get the job done. Our gutter repair service can save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run!