The eavestrough plays an important role in your home by draining rainwater from your roof. Imagine a situation where it’s damaged and water pools around your home and causes damage to your property. Scary, right?
Luckily, there are practices you can adopt to prevent your eavestrough from completely breaking down. One such practice is looking for signs that this system requires repair services. But what are these? They include:
1. Water Overflow
Your gutter has a curved shape to contain water as it drains it away through the downspout. Therefore, if you find rainwater spilling over the eavestrough when it’s raining, something is wrong. One tell-tale sign is if water pools around your plinth after a downpour. What could be the issue?
The main reason is that your eavestrough has debris in it. The debris displaces the water as it pours in, raising its level. The more debris, the more there’ll be overflow. You can easily remove the particles before the next downpour.
But what if the debris has accumulated over time, and the removal leads to you damaging the gutter? You’ll require professional eavestrough repair services. Click here to learn more about these services or use any other source at your disposal. As a precaution, it’s best to invest in a gutter guard to prevent leaves and debris from getting into the gutter.
2. Loose Eavestrough
The eavestrough should flush against the fascia of your roof and screwed in place with nails or other jointing material. However, if this isn’t the case and it’s hanging away from the fascia, it needs repair. Failure to, it might succumb to rainwater pressure and fall off entirely.
An efficiently working eavestrough is continuous, without any missing parts. Thus, if your gutter has a missing section, no matter how small, you need to repair it.
3. Rotting And Rusting Parts
As is seen herein, there are many parts associated with your home’s gutter. Damage to these parts is a clear sign your eavestrough requires repairs. Which are these parts?
One is the fascia and its counterpart, the soffit. Since the gutter is flashed against the fascia, water shouldn’t come into contact with it. Yet if you notice that the fascia is rotting, especially if it’s made of wood, it’s a sign the gutter isn’t working efficiently. The soffit also becomes a victim of gutter issues since it’s located below the gutter. This area getting wet and starting to rot is a sign of an issue.
As stated earlier, the gutter is secured to the fascia using nails or screws. Should they start rusting, it’s time you considered replacing them. If you leave them longer, they might fail to secure your eavestrough, causing more inefficiencies.
4. Leaks
Water leakage in your eavestrough is a major sign you need to repair. These leaks don’t have to be extensive to take action. Addressing these leaks in their initial stages will prevent them from expanding and causing damage. They can be along the gutter’s length or at the seams of the various sections where there’s jointing.
To check for leaks, observe your gutter immediately after a pour. There’s a likelihood of the water still lurking around. You’ll see the water dripping from below the gutter. Alternatively, you’ll find water pooling along the length of your gutter and around your home. These pools can direct you to the exact leakage point if you’re keen.
5. Peeling Paint
Peeling paint is a sign your eavestrough requires repair if it’s painted, despite the material. Most contractors adopt acrylic paint for their gutter, including a metal one, since it becomes water resistant once it dries. Additionally, prior to painting, the contractors will apply primer, increasing the reliability of the paintwork. As a result, it can handle water on its surface, in this case, rainwater.
Therefore, should this paint start to peel off, something’s amiss. It could be a sign water is stagnating along the gutter, which shouldn’t be the case. The stagnation could arise from a section of the gutter being lower than the rest, causing a depression where water pools. Hence, it needs repair.
6. Water Stains On Your Walls
Besides preventing rainwater from pooling around your foundation, an eavestrough also works to keep water from your walls. This feature is possible since it flushes against the fascia. Hence, if you find water stains on your external walls, something is amiss with your eavestrough, and you need to carry out eavestrough repair the soonest.
Conclusion
An eavestrough is likely one of the investments you’ve made in your home. Protecting and taking care of your investments is one way of ensuring you get value for your money. The discussion above has shown how to identify issues with your eavestrough in advance. Noticing the issues early and addressing them promptly will extend the gutter’s lifespan. You won’t need to replace it.
