Does Your Home Have a Gutter System? It should!

Some homeowners make the mistake of underestimating the significance of a gutter system. The most common attitude with which most homeowners approach gutters is the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude, which is a self-defeating perception in the long run. In this article, we’re going to tell you how a gutter system is one of the most important parts of the longevity, safety, and health of your house. Moreover, we’ll also give you a description of the other side of the coin, in which the absence of a good gutter system will give you disastrous and ridiculously expensive problems.

How do gutters work efficiently?

The primary purpose of gutters is to channel water away from your house into a drainage system, for example, a tank. This rather simple role a gutter system plays will spare you from the agony that comes from water damage on your structure. Most of us recognize the danger posed by heavy rains on our homes; from leaking roofs to the rotting siding. This damage is aggravated especially when gutters are absent. It is for this reason that most homeowners have gutters and more local construction authorities make it compulsory to have one.

Benefits of having a gutter system.

Does Your Home Have a Gutter System? It should! Here are the reasons why:

• To prevent roof leaks and decay

To begin with, gutters are your first line of defense against leaks and rot. In one way or another, your home’s walls may not be fully waterproof, and some of the components of your roof may also be susceptible to water damage. Similarly, heavy rains may break or shift shingles, creating gaps through which water intrudes your home. This is the onset of rotting in your siding and roof. To put it in another way, without having an effective way to get rid of water from your roof, major components of your home will begin to fail one at a time. Consequently, you will end up spending heavily to conduct repairs, or even worse, replacements.

On the other hand, if you install an efficient gutter system, the rainwater shall be channeled to a drainage system, causing no problem.

• To eliminate the threat of erosion

Just as you should be wary of water damage to your home, beware of the havoc it could wreak on your lawn. Gutters are an effective means of protecting against splash erosion. Splashing water from heavy rains makes soil loose and destroy the plush green areas in your yard. Loose eroded soil is of significantly poor quality, with low nutrients and moisture. Furthermore, heavy erosion around your home will take away the curb appeal. Imagine a landscape filled with gaping holes, or worse still, muddy soil and pools of water in your yard.

A properly-installed, robust gutter will contain the erosion, channeling water to a tank, thus preventing rainwater from accumulating or splashing on the ground.

• To secure the integrity of your house’s foundation

Close attention must be paid to your home’s foundation since it is the bastion of your home’s structural stability. When water gathers around your home’s foundation, the soil beneath will become soft. The seeping water, by making the soil soft, makes your home’s foundation to lose stability. The primary sign of the effects of water on foundations is the emergence of cracks on surfaces. Now, you don’t have to be schooled to know how great a danger unattended cracks are to the structure of a house. In fact, at such a stage, a total structural collapse of the house would be only a matter of time.

Therefore, while you may hesitate to install or replace your gutters, remember that correcting problems with your foundation is much more expensive.

• To manage the distribution of water

One other benefit of installing gutters to your house is that you can have total control of the rainwater. You can choose to channel it to a storage tank, to water your lawn, wash your car, or just get rid of it altogether.

• To prevent the growth of mold

When your house’s exterior accumulates excessive moisture, there is a high probability that mold would grow luxuriantly in the attic or siding due to high humidity and poor ventilation. Removing mold from your home is quite tedious, and can be toxic; a health hazard to your family. With a rain gutter system, the chances of mold growth are minimized because water seepage shall have been reduced.

For 25 years, Aspen Home Improvements has been a trusted roofing company based in Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. We offer unrivaled home improvement solutions. From door and window installation to roofing, we got you covered. Contact us today to get excellent customer service, expert advice, and excellent workmanship.