Michael's Blog

A good gutter system prevents damage to your siding, foundation, and landscaping, and it helps prevent water from leaking into your basement. Clogged, sagging, or leaky gutters can cause extensive damage. Water running from a leaky gutter or down the siding washes away the grade around the foundation, seeps into the basement, causes undue settling with resultant cracks in plaster, sticking windows and doors, and warped rood and framing.

Gutter leaks should get immediate attention. If you’re not ready to replace the entire gutter on your house, try repairing just the leaky section. Fixing a leaky gutter is a fairly simple task, and the repair can last several months before you have to replace the entire gutter. First, the gutter must first be cleaned of the rust and dust before repair is done. To repair a leaky gutter you should determine whether the water is slopping over the sides of the gutter or whether it is leaking through a hole. If the joint is leaking, take it apart, clean and dry it, and then apply new gutter caulking or sealant with a caulking gun. If water is seeping in through small cracks or holes, small holes can be patched. Small holes in vinyl gutters can be repaired with special vinyl sealants. After you repair the leak, fill the gutter with water and check for additional leaks.

The gutter and downspout system on your house is designed to catch the water on your roof, deliver it away from the foundation or basement, and deposit it harmlessly onto the lawn or into storm sewer drains. Probably the most common problem with gutters is simply that they get clogged with waste material — twigs, leaves, seeds, and other debris. For this reason, keeping gutters clean is extremely important. It is also important to clean out downspouts at the same time as your gutters to avoid water damage to the house.

Gutters and downspouts that are filled with debris can back up, causing roof leaks, rot at the overhang, and structural damage. Keeping gutters and downspouts clean is a preventive maintenance task that should be done on a regular basis. They should be inspected and cleaned at least once a year; more often if nearby trees drop a lot of debris on them. The logical time to give your gutters an annual cleaning is in autumn, after all leaves have fallen.

Cleaning gutters isn’t so bad if you have the proper tools, including a sturdy ladder. Head up the ladder (without leaning the ladder on the gutters themselves) and your ladder should be sturdy enough to allow you to safely do the job. Cleaning gutters is hard work, but it’s necessary. If you’re not up to the task yourself, hire someone.

Gutters are installed on eaves to collect rain from the roof and channel it into downspouts that direct the water away form the house foundation. The absence of gutters might result in water seepage into the basement, rotting sections of wood trim, damage to foundation plantings, and the erosion of topsoil.

There are many types of gutter material available. Gutter systems are available in galvanized steel, aluminum, vinyl and wood. Choosing the appropriate type of gutter, whether galvanized steel, aluminum, vinyl or wood, is very much a factor of the age and design of your house, as well as the size of your budget.

Aluminum is a very common gutter material. They are relatively inexpensive, and not overly difficult to install. One of the most appealing of aluminum gutters is the ability to make the gutters in any reasonable length without seams. The benefit seamless systems is the lack of joints (which are points of potential leaks if not maintained). Seamless aluminum gutters are attractive and can last a long-time, but they’re expensive.

Galvanized gutters are probably the least expensive gutters to install. It will rust through, though, and isn’t recommended for damp climates, coastal areas or places with industrial or railroad smog. Galvanized gutters must be kept painted inside and out to prevent deterioration.

Vinyl gutters are easy to install and maintenance-free, except for a cleaning once or twice a year. It won’t dent, rust, chip, peel or corrode. Vinyl gutter systems can be used on almost any house design.

Wooden gutters are expensive, heavy and difficult to install and maintain. Wood gutters also can develop holes through wood rot.