Do your old, cracked gutters send chills down your spine?
Do you let out a blood-curdling scream when you look at the state of your gutters?
Do you hide under your bed, trembling at the thought of a frighteningly high bill for new gutters haunting your mailbox?
Your gutters were once a thing of beauty. Shiny and new and directing storm water away from your house like nobody’s business. But now that your gutters are well past their prime, it may be time to give up the ghost. Here are a few things to look for in determining whether or not it’s time for new gutters.
- Rust or orange stains. If rust spots are minor, they may be able to be repaired, but if there’s extensive rust, it may be time for new gutters.
- Cracks. They may not be obvious on a dry day, but when the rain comes, any cracks in your gutters are evident. You may also see water damage on any areas that lie beneath the cracks.
- Broken fasteners. These are not a difficult fix but should be taken care of right away to avoid sagging or bending of your gutters.
- Gutters pulling away from the roof. This could be from broken fasteners, broken gutters, or rot.
- Gutters separated at the seams. This is a common problem for gutters with seams. Eventually, they begin to separate. This can be avoided with seamless gutters.
- Sagging gutters. If you have broken or missing fasteners, your gutters will begin to sag.
- Dented gutters. Gutters can become dented due to storm damage. Aluminum gutters are particularly susceptible to denting.
- Pooling water. If you see pools of water accumulating beneath your gutters, it may simply be an indicator that your gutters are clogged and need to be cleaned as debris is causing water to overflow instead of following its normal path through the gutter system. It may also mean, however, that you have cracks, separation at the seams, or rust holes.
- Peeling paint. When water overflows onto the side of your house, it causes it to deteriorate. Painted siding, door and window frames, shutters, anything in the water’s path that is painted will begin to peel.
- Erosion around your house. If you see areas where your soil or turf has eroded, you’re probably experiencing overflow in your gutters which may need to be cleaned or they may be broken.
- Flooded basement. Faulty gutters are one of the main reasons for a flooded basement.
- Cracks in your foundation. Over time, if there’s water leaking into your foundation, freezing and thawing, you will experience cracks which lead to wet basements.
- Window and door rot. Water leaking onto windows and doors will cause their frames to rot and deteriorate prematurely.
- Mildew around the foundation. Mold and mildew thrive in wet areas. This could mean you have gutter overflow that keeps the area wet, or that your gutters weren’t installed correctly in the first place and aren’t directing the water away from your home the way they should.
Many of these issues can be remedied with a good cleaning or minor repairs, but it may be time to consider installing new seamless gutters with gutter guards. Without seams that could separate or rust, and with gutter guards to keep out damaging and obstructive debris, much of the damage caused by faulty gutters can be eliminated.
At GutterPros, we inspect, install, repair, and replace gutter systems, at a fair price. We’ll never haunt your mailbox with a frightfully large bill! Call us today at (314) 656-7195 and stop fearing your gutters!