You can have the best gutters in the world, but if they are not hung correctly they will not be effective at protecting your home from the damaging effects of rainwater. The main job of your gutter system is to direct water away from your house, so hanging gutters improperly can only result in trouble — trouble that you don’t want unless you have a lot of money to spend on repairs.
Your gutters must be properly secured with gutter mounts at least every three feet for adequate support, and all seams should be leakproof. There also must be enough of a pitch for the water to flow towards the downspout, at least one to two inches for every 40 feet. The inner edge of the gutter must be several inches beneath the roof edge to catch all the water cascading down from the roof.
Consequences
What can happen when rainwater fails to find its way to your downspout? The first place that can be impacted is the edge of your roof where the gutter is attached to the fascia board. With water having nowhere to go except over the sides, it will seep into the roof structure and then find its way into the walls beneath if the issue remains unaddressed for too long.
Being hidden from view, you may not even be aware of the slow progression of wood rot. One sign that water has made its way into your walls is the appearance of mold and mildew. If you see your soffit beginning to lose its paint and show signs of deterioration, you will know that your rain gutters are not doing their job.
Your Foundation
Water that spills over the back of your gutter damages the roof and walls, but water can also make its way over the front of the gutter. This is one of the most serious consequences of hanging gutters improperly. The least that will happen is it will erode your landscaping and possibly ruin any foliage around your house. However, the really serious problem begins when water finds its way into your foundation, eventually causing cracks, wet basements and crawlspaces, and even flooding. Foundation repair can be quite expensive and troublesome, so that is something you definitely don’t want to happen.
To avoid all these issues, why not contact Gutter Helmet by Harry Helmet in Maryland? We can make sure your gutters are hung properly. We can also install Gutter Helmet gutter protection to keep rainwater from invading your home!
