Why are my Gutters Leaking?

Gutters are not something you often put a lot of thought into - until something happens. You come home and happen to notice dripping from your downspout. A significant rain happens, and you recognize your gutters are not containing the water or you happen to see a crack or split in your gutter. What if you find a large pool of water that was never in your yard before? You could even have gutters that are not hanging correctly on your home. You then realize you have a problem that needs to be addressed, but how do you take care of a leaking gutter?

What Causes Gutters to Leak?

Before you can fix the problem, you must know what some potential causes are of leaking gutters. Here we'll look at common causes and solutions to these gutter problems you might be experiencing.

Loose Downspouts 

One cause could be a loose downspout. You can easily examine it and see if the downspout has come loose. That could be an easy fix if it's on the first story of your house, but what if it's on the second story. You don't want to climb out on your roof. You could fall off the roof and become severely injured or even die. You'll likely want to hire a professional with the right equipment to handle your house's upper stories safely.

Clogging

You can see if It's merely a clog. Clogs could be caused by leaves and debris in the gutter. It could also be caused by rodents, birds, or insects making nests in them. If the gutter is clogged you would notice overflow occurring over the edge of the gutter when it rains or no water coming out of the downspout. You can avoid clogs by inspecting and cleaning your gutters at least twice a year. The inspection would be for any dents or seam issues that would catch debris and cause it not to flow along the gutter and out through the downspout.

Cracks or Splitting Seams

If your gutters are not containing the water, you could have a crack or split in the seam of the gutter, allowing water to pour out into places like your flowerbeds, your landscaping, or your foundation. The weight of debris in the gutter and water that isn't draining could cause the seams to split. Cracks can be caused by the same issues or rust in non-aluminum gutters. Water can cause severe damage to landscaping and be detrimental to your foundation. Foundations can become cracked, have leaks, or completely collapse with water pressure around them. Nobody wants problems with their foundation. That's the most critical part of your house. That crack or split needs to be repaired immediately. You can try to repair it yourself, but you'll probably have to hire a professional to fix it. That's not something you want to tackle on your own.

Loose Fasteners

If your fasteners are loose on your gutters, it could cause many issues. It can cause the gutters to sag. But even when they don't make the gutters sag, the screws or hangers that affix the gutters to your home could be loose, causing water to get into your fascia, an open invitation to rot. If the gutters are loose, rain can get behind them, and water can pour directly on the fascia, also causing rot. You may have to have your fascia replaced and your gutters re-hung. This is a project for a professional.

Improper slope

Gutters need to be hung with a slight downward slope, so the water flows down the slope toward the downspouts. Sometimes your gutters can sag over time either due to the weight of the water or loose fasteners. This will cause the slope to change, which is not easy to fix. The sagging sections will need to be re-hung, or the entire gutter will need to be re-hung. This absolutely calls for a professional fix.

What to do when your gutters are leaking?

So, do you try to fix the problem yourself, or do you hire a professional? If you hire a professional, will they fix the individual situation, leaving your gutters vulnerable to future issues, or will they replace them with a similar product?

When you decide to hire a professional, hire LeafGuard, and you'll never have to worry about your gutters again. LeafGuard is the seamless gutter system guaranteed never to clog, or we'll clean your gutters for free. Other gutter systems are multi-piece with seams that are vulnerable to leaks, rust, and sag. LeafGuard's seamless one-piece design has no gaps or seams for water to leak through and won't pull away or sag, guaranteed.