Have you noticed cracks in your driveway, or moss creeping up the exterior wall of your house? Does rain water pool in the garden around the house?
Having your gutters cleaned mightn't be your top priority but blocked gutters can result in serious water damage to your home, especially in times of high rainfall. Gutters packed with leaves and debris also pose an extreme fire hazard.
Here are 7 signs that your gutters are blocked and need attention.
1. Mould or moss growing on the inside or outside of your walls
This can mean that the gutters are clogged. Rainwater, rather than flowing through the gutters, flows down the side of the house. The resulting dampness can then permeate the wall. If moss grows on the wall, this prevents it from drying out and further exacerbates the problem. Mould growing inside your home is unhealthy and damaging to paint and wall paper.
2. Sagging or leaking ceilings
Blocked gutters can prevent water from draining off the roof, causing the water to leak into ceiling cavities resulting in damage. Water might leak from the join between the ceiling and wall.
3. Sagging or cracked driveway
Un-drained rainwater pooling on the driveway can wreck havoc on the concrete, breaking it down and possibly causing it to crack.
4. Damaged landscape around the house
If your gutters are blocked, rain water can spill over the gutters and forcefully hit the ground damaging plants and fauna underneath, or creating a pit in the ground at the point of impact. Water splashing on the side of the house can also cause damage.
5. Rotting facia boards
The facia board is s straight board that runs along the lower edge of the roof, supporting the outer edge of the roof and the gutters. If the gutters become clogged or laden with rainwater, this can rot the facia boards or even cause them to break away under the weight.
6. Pests or insects living in the gutters
Stagnant pooled water encourages mosquitoes to breed in the gutters. Leaves and twigs provide the perfect habitat for rodents to nest in.
7. Plants growing in the gutters
This is an obvious sign that your gutters are full of debris.
Regular gutter maintenance, performed by companies like PLMGN Maintenance Services Gutter Cleaning, is the best way to avoid the problems caused by blocked drains. How often your gutters need clearing depend on several factors, particularly on the number of tall deciduous trees surrounding your house: it can range from monthly, to seasonally, to yearly.
Share29 December 2014
Hello. My name is Tina and this is my home improvement blog. The bathroom is one of the most important rooms in the house. My mother used to always say that you could discover a lot about a person by how clean their bathroom was. Because of this advice, I have always been very worried about the state of my bathroom. Last year, I was convinced that the bathroom was too old and grubby so I contacted a team of contractors who came out to work on it. They re-tiled the place and installed a new sink and splashback. I really love me new bathroom and I hope you like my new blog.
