How to Know When It’s Time to Replace Gutters on Your House
Your home’s gutters are built to last a long time, but won’t last forever, despite how well you maintain them. Knowing some of the early signs of needing to replace gutters on your house will mean you have time to act before potentially long-term, costly damage is caused to your home’s roof, foundation, exterior or landscaping.
Why you need to replace gutters
Regular gutter maintenance will allow you to spot small issues that will lead to bigger ones if left unrepaired. But while cleaning, repairing and patching your gutters will prolong their life, eventually your old gutters will need replacement. This is particularly important given that weakened gutters can fail completely in bad, stormy weather, which can make an eventual problem an immediate one, in the worst possible conditions.
Signs that it’s time to replace gutters
1. Cracks in the gutters and the seams
Cracked gutters and seams are a sure sign that your gutter is weakening and in need of replacement. While you can patch and repair one or two, once you have larger or multiple cracks, or visible separation between your gutter seams, your gutters’ ability to carry water away from the house is compromised.
2. Gutters pulling away from the roof, or signs of fascia rot
Your home’s gutters are attached to the fascia board, so if they’re pulling away then it’s a sign that something isn’t right. They may have just come loose, but a good check is to see if it’s because the fascia board has rotted and the gutter is no longer held tight. If the fascia has rotted, the gutter isn’t doing its job of keeping water away from your house. Not only will you need to replace the gutter, but likely the fascia too; installing a new gutter over rotted fascia means they don’t have a stable foundation.
3. Damage to your exterior
Peeling paint, rot and mould on your home’s exterior (and fascia, as above) are signs that your gutters aren’t in a good state. As is wet and eroding landscaping, water pooling and flooding in lower levels. While it may be being caused by a leak that can be patched, continually patching similar leaks are a sign that the gutters are getting too weak and damaged. This means it’s time to replace gutters on your home.
What to do if you need to replace gutters
If you need to replace gutters, you can either call in the professionals, or DIY it. Either way, once you’ve replaced them, you want them to last a long, long time because it’s certainly not an expense you want to repeat often.
Prolong the life of your new gutters, and get the most from the money you’re spending, by installing a Guttershield gutter guard system. Guttershield offers the ultimate protection for your home’s gutters, both new and existing, and reduces maintenance significantly by keeping them 99% cleaner and debris free. Your gutters become much more durable, so they’ll last longer – definitely something you want after you’ve spent the money and time replacing them.
Give us a call to find out more about how Guttershield can extend the life of your home’s new and existing gutters, while making them practically maintenance free - we’re here to help.