5 Signs Your Gutters May Need Repair
Constant Clogging
If you find yourself having to clear out your gutters or a clogged downspout continually, there may be a severe underlying issue causing it. It’s normal to clear out gutters about once a season, but more than that may indicate damage or wear that is making it easier for debris to get stuck in your gutter channels.
Visible Damages
The most obvious sign that you need gutter repair is visual damage. Always check after a storm for cracks, falling gutters, and separating joints. Any of these will require professional repair as soon as possible.
Rusty or Chipping Paint
When your gutter paint or finish starts chipping away, your gutters can become a breeding ground for rust. People who’ve experienced rusty gutters know how much of an inconvenience they can be. The rusty water can stain home siding and, if the metal rusts through, it can create a big replacement headache for homeowners.
Pooling Water
If you see water pooling around your foundation during a rainstorm, that is a good indication that your gutters have cracked. These cracks may only be small slivers that you’d only notice on close inspection, but when there are multiple, it can cause serious concerns for the soil and plants surrounding your house.
Stains on Home Siding
Siding stains are another indication of small cracks in your gutters. This typically starts to happen before you see water pooling and can be identified by brown dirt stains on the side of your house. If you see this, act quickly to remediate the issue, or else you could be looking at considerable problems caused by pooling water very quickly.
Does My Roof Need To Be Replaced?
Roofs are constantly exposed to brutal elements. Baking sun, ripping winds, freezing temperatures and pounding rain all take their toll on this important protective layer. While some types of roofs can potentially last 25 years, shingles do eventually age, bend, break, tear or simply fall apart. It can be hard to tell how bad things are from the ground, but these nine signs you need a new roof will help.
The Roof Is About to Turn 25
Homeowners should check their receipts and improvement records for the date their roof was last replaced. Typical asphalt shingle systems have lifespans of 20 to 25 years. If that time window has passed, most homeowners can start planning for a new roof.
Note: If the shingles were installed on top of an existing layer of shingles, then they might not last as long. Twenty years is typical for these kinds of applications.
Missing Shingles
Missing shingles are never a good sign. This occurs when the shingle itself weakens, and the adhesive holding the bottom in place starts separating from the course below. At that point, all it takes is the right gust of wind for a shingle to fall off.
However, just one or two missing shingles isn’t the end of the world. In some cases, the cause could be improper installation. A relatively quick repair could have the roof back in top shape, though the shingle color might not be an exact match.
Shingles Are Starting to Cup, Curl or Claw
Some telltale signs that a roof is nearing the end of its lifespan are cupping, curling or clawing. Cupping and curling look very similar, with the ends of the shingles peeling away from the courses below them and beginning to point upward. Clawing occurs when the center of the shingle lifts while the ends stay in contact with the roof. Neither condition is a good sign, and they can be the result of extreme temperatures, improper installation, poor ventilation or age.