Does My Home Need Rain Gutters?
/Yes! The function of rain gutters is to take the water on your roof and move it away from the foundation of your home. When water seeps into your foundation walls over time, it can weaken, erode and damage them. Foundation repairs can be very costly. And comparatively, rain gutters are not. Installing rain gutters will help save the integrity of your home and potentially thousands of dollars in foundation repair.
Once you have the gutters installed, it’s also important to keep them clean and function. This is one of the most overlooked home maintenance tasks I’ve seen in my years of selling houses and reading home inspection reports and it’s one of the simplest to keep up on.
Here are some tips to keep them flowing.
1. Keep Them Clean.
Luckily, if you are on top of the issue, maintaining rain gutters isn't really all that difficult. The most important thing to do is clean the gutters out at least twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the fall. Where I live we have a lot of mature trees so I usually have to clean them out two or three times in the fall. This consists of climbing up on a ladder and cleaning all the debris out of the gutters. If it's dry you can use a leaf blower even. If there is a lot of dirt or silt in the bottom of the gutter, you can also run a hose at the end of the gutter and flush it all out down the downspouts. Now they even make attachments for leaf blowers so you can blow out the gutters while standing on the ground.
I remember the first time I cleaned the gutters on our house after we moved in. They hadn't been done in ages and they were so gross. But now that we are cleaning them consistently they are never bad and it's a pretty quick job.
2. Check For and Repair Damage
While you're up on the ladder cleaning, keep your eye out for any damage in the gutters - cracks, sagging, splitting, water damage around them, etc. And then fix them. If you can fix the issues early, they will be easier (and often cheaper) to fix and save you from possible worse damage later.
And when it’s raining, check on them. Note where they may be dripping so you can patch them with silicone when it’s dry again.
3. Extenders are Important
I think every single home inspection report I've ever seen tells the home buyer to install extenders to the rain gutter downspouts. The extenders channel the water away from your foundation into your yard or driveway, etc. I've even seen rain barrels on downspouts to be used to water plants as well. The important part is to keep the water runoff away from your foundations and windows.
And, really, that's it. Rain gutter maintenance is simple and so very important. Remember, if it's too much for you, there are lots of great companies out there that can do this for you. The important part is making sure it gets done!