Could Water Damage from Clogged Gutters Be Hurting Your Home with Every Rainfall?
When protecting the investment you’ve made in your home, keeping gutters clean seem like such a small issue. Yet clogged gutters can cause enormous damage to your roof, attic, ceilings, walls, landscaping and foundation. The silent damage done by clogged gutters can be very expensive to repair. Long-term water damage can even cause your house to collapse.
When gutters are unclogged, they channel water through the gutter trough, into the downspouts, and away from your home. But when the gutters become clogged with debris, water damage can occur both inside and outside your house.
Telltale Signs of Clogged Gutters
When the gutters are not able to keep up with the rain, drainage off your roof can cause water to infiltrate your house. When this happens, you may notice water dripping from your ceiling. Standing water often causes mold to breed inside your roof, attic and walls. If you see water dripping from your ceiling or mold breeding, check to see if your gutters are clean.
You may notice plants, bushes, and grass around the base of the house getting damaged or washed away by water spilling down. Check for leaves and other debris obstructing flow through the gutters and downspouts.
Cascading Effect of Clogged Gutters
When gutters cannot drain properly, water has nowhere to go and the standing water builds up within the gutter. Clogged gutters are very heavy due to the weight of the contained water. This excess weight can pull the roof fascia loose where the gutters are attached to the roof structure.
When gutters are clogged, the fascia boards can become saturated with water. This causes the boards to deteriorate and eventually rot. Water can also flow from the roof into the attic and drip down into living spaces. This dripping water can saturate attic insulation, destroying its insulating value and triggering the growth of toxic mold.
The water that is slowly seeping into your home may go unnoticed. But water that drips inside has the ability to ruin paint, furniture and appliances, as well as causing electrical problems.
Water from leaking gutters can easily overflow and get up under the roof’s shingles causing the edge of the roof’s surface and the underlying materials to soak up water. The wood sheeting underneath the roof may rot from being waterlogged, leading to weaknesses in the roof.
When your home’s gutters clog, water tends to spill over the side pouring down onto the ground damaging or destroying the flower beds and shrubs around the base of your home.
As the water pours down the sides, it can start pooling around the foundation. You may not notice any issue at the early stages. Pooling water means the soil underneath is completely saturated. This puts enormous pressure on the side of your home. Over time, this pressure can cause the basement and lower walls to push inward or crack.
When the water pours off, it may erode away the soil, causing the foundation to settle. This can lead to uneven floors or cracks in walls or chimneys.
Once cracks appear in the foundation, water can enter the home through these cracks, causing mold growth and flooded basements. Worst of all, long term water damage, left unrepaired, could weaken the house so much that it collapses.
To prevent this outpouring of damage to your house, clear your gutters regularly.