Gutters play a crucial role in protecting your home's exterior walls, foundation, and landscaping by channeling water to a safe draining point. But many homeowners often forget about this crucial installation until they can trace a problem back to faulty gutters. For example, you may not notice the gutters have holes until you see peeling paint where water is flowing down the exterior wall. Gutters have to contend with weather exposure and inevitably develop corrosion, sagging joints, clogging, and leakages. You can keep this crucial structure in good shape with several fixes to mitigate these problems.
1. Gutter Guards to Prevent Clogged Gutters
The most common problem with gutters is clogging. This happens when leaves, debris, dirt, and other materials get caught in the gutter and cause it to overflow. The fix is simple: gutter guard installation to prevent the clogging in the first place.
Gutter guards are fabricated from mesh or aluminum material that keeps out leaves and other debris from entering the gutter. Some have extensions that catch water from the roof, diverting it from the foundation wall.
2. Gutter Hanger Replacement for Sagging Gutters
If you have sagging gutters, it means the hangers have rusted, broken, or bent. Sagging is also a sign of poor design or installation. Hangers are made of galvanized steel and plastic. They should also have enough tension to hold the weight of water in the gutter, even in high winds. Replacing gutter hangers is a relatively easy task for an experienced roofer.
3. Gutter Hole Repair for Leaking Gutters
Small holes in the gutters are often caused by nails that have been hammered in carelessly during installation or by debris such as sticks and rocks kicked up by lawn equipment. The best way to fix a hole is to apply an epoxy sealant. This is a strong adhesive that seals in the holes.
4. Rehanging Gutters for Improper Slope
Gutters are installed so that water flows toward the downspout. A negative slope happens when the slope is improper, and the water pools in the gutters and creates too much weight. You fix this problem by rehanging the gutters with a positive slope to enable water flow as expected.
5. Gutter Replacement for Corroded Gutters
If your gutters are metallic, they should be coated with protective paint or sealant to prevent corrosion. However, the best fix for this problem is to replace the guttering system when there is extensive corrosion, especially when it is too old.
Do you think your home's rain gutters have become ineffective? Talk to a roofer from a place like Gutter Shutter SE WI to inspect its condition and recommend solutions for gutters in good shape.