You may not realize it, but problems with your rain gutters are putting your home in significant danger.

If your home’s gutter system isn’t properly maintained,water runs off of your roof and pools around the foundation of your home. Over time, this water does a number of damaging things.

A little bit about your gutter system:

Your gutter system is designed to capture water as it runs off of your roof, then divert it to a safe location in your yard. This is accomplished by downspouts that are extended to a distance of at least a few feet, sometimes more, away from the home’s foundation. That provides a number of steps in the process where something can go wrong. If your gutter mounting bolts come loose from you home’s fascia, it creates a gap, so water doesn’t go to the gutters when it runs off the roof. If your gutters are clogged, water pools in the gutters and runs over the side. Leaks, sagging gutters, the list of possible problems is extensive.

What can happen when the water pools?

There are two main problems that can arise when water pools around your foundation. First, the soil becomes saturated causing increased pressure on the walls of your home. Over time, this pressure pushes water into the foundation or the walls of your basement. This then allows water to cause damage to that construction, leading to cracks and larger leaks. If you get cracks in the foundation, the repairs to correct the issue are time consuming and costly. If not fixed, water will leak through these cracks almost every time there is a storm or even melting snow after winter.

The second problem that can occur is erosion of the soil away from your foundation. Instead of increased pressure, the soil is instead washed away by the water as it pools and then runs off downhill. Again, over time this leads to costly damage to your foundation as it’s no longer sitting on even ground. Even a small fraction of a degree of difference can cause cracks in the foundation leading to similar issues as above. Either way, the cost of these repairs can run into the thousands, far more than a twice yearly gutter cleaning and inspection

Regular gutter cleaning can go a long way to keeping your home in the best shape possible. When you get a gutter cleaning from us, we also complete a thorough inspection of your gutters, and alert you to any issues early on, allowing you to catch and fix them before they can lead to more expensive repairs. To schedule your gutter cleaning and inspection, call us today.