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If Your Gutters Are Doing This, You’re in Trouble
If you think the showers will stop because April is over, then you’re in trouble! While the saying indicates that April showers bring May flowers, the reality in Western Massachusetts is that late-April to Early-May showers bring more May showers, then bring late-May to early-June flowers.
Alright, so that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue in the same way. I guess we understand that the truth might be stretched a little bit for the sake of a catchy rhyme. However, that means you still need to prepare for plenty of rain come May, and we hope your gutters are ready. Rather than second guess your gutters, we figured we’d give you a few of the most telling symptoms of a gutter problem.
Draining Against Your Foundation
How’s your downspout extender situation? Don’t have any? A downspout extender is the piece of tubing that connects to your downspouts and lies horizontally across the ground. Why do you need these? Simply put, you have to get the water that your gutters collect away from your foundation.
Most foundation experts agree that extending your downspouts at least 4 to 6 feet away from your foundation is ideal. You want that water to go elsewhere. What happens if it doesn’t? Any water that gets stuck against your house will lay against your foundation. If there’s enough of it, it’ll inevitably enter your basement via something called “hydrostatic pressure.” Even worse, the excessive water could erode the soil around your foundation, causing house settlement issues. The bottom line is to keep the dirt around your home as dry as possible.
Dripping Excessively
The next time it rains hard go outside, or if you’d rather stay dry, peer out a window and take a look at your gutters. Is the water staying inside of the gutter or is it dripping out of the sides? If it’s dripping, then you need to clean your gutters; they’re more than likely clogged with leaf matter, pine straw, and other stuff.
Healthy gutters should let very little (if any) water over their edges; it should all drain into the downspout. The only time we could see excessive dripping is if the slope of your roof is too extreme and you need extra wide gutter channels.
Missing a Downspout
Believe it or not, some people have no idea how important their gutters are because they misunderstand their purpose. Gutters keep your foundation dry and minimize the erosion of the soil that keeps your home at its correct grade.
Downspouts can be problematic if they’re not working right, but they should never be removed. Doing this will cause pooling in that area, and will quickly lead to erosion, settling, and leaky-basement problems.
Sloping, Leaning, or Falling
Older gutters were installed using nails. Over time, the changing seasons will cause these nails to lose their purchase. Eventually, they’ll begin to slide out and no longer support the weight of your gutters. Worse yet, as snow accumulates it’ll put even more weight on your gutters, pushing them and more out of whack. If gutters aren’t aligned properly, they won’t drain properly. It’s that simple.
A Band Aid approach to this issue is using screws. However, screwing your failing gutters into your home creates more severe problems down the line because they will put undue stress on the exterior of your home. Today, gutter systems are hung without screws or nails, so it’s no longer a problem.
Is it Time for a Gutter Upgrade?
Gutter repairs are tricky; you’re often just delaying the inevitable. Worse yet, you could be convincing yourself that you’re fixing a problem when you’re actually creating an entirely new one. For instance, improperly hung gutters affixed with screws could rot and stress your fascia.
It's best to bite the bullet and get them replaced if they're causing you problems. New gutters will fix all sorts of problems, even a wet basement. Plus, they instantly improve your curb appeal. We offer several sophisticated gutter solutions, even ones with built-in guards to keep lead debris out.