Roofing tends to receive a lot of attention when it comes to protecting homes from the elements. These are certainly important aspects, but there’s another, often overlooked, member of your home’s defense team. High quality installations of affordable gutter systems can be just as crucial to preventing damage and keeping your home in prime condition. At the same time, the appearance of your gutters and downspouts plays an important role in maintaining the value and aesthetic appeal of your home.
While the exterior image your home projects may be the least important factor, having a broken drainage system could bring down its worth. This could also have a negative impact in the eyes of your homeowner’s insurance provider. Any damage potentially stemming from improper drainage may not be covered under your policy, leaving you to bear the full expense of future repairs.
Those damages resulting from unkempt gutters are the true issues at hand. When the gutters are clogged with leaves, stems and other debris, rain water could back up underneath your home’s shingles. From there, it could seep into the roof and eventually lead to considerable leaks along with thousands of dollars in repair costs. Keeping them cleaned out could prevent much of this, but if they seem to become blocked more often than normal, you may want to consider having gutter guards installed. These allow debris to roll over the gutters while water filters in and is whisked away from your home.
Downspouts are are equally important because if they become damaged or obstructed, water running through the gutters has nowhere to go. It’s either going to back up onto the roof or flow down the sides of your home, possibly streaming underneath the siding to bring about additional damage. If your gutters and downspouts are working properly but rain and runoff from melting ice and snow aren’t diverted away from your home, you’ve got another set of issues.
When water is left to gather around the outside of your house, it could lead to foundation damage. Shifting of the foundation, in turn, could reduce your home’s structural integrity, leave cracks in the floors, walls and ceilings and prevent windows and doors from shutting properly. All these problems can be prevented with High quality installations of affordable gutter systems as well as having your roof inspected annually and repaired as needed.
