Poorly Functioning Gutters Can Cost Homeowners Big Time

rain gutter repair

Your rain gutters are designed to carry water safely away from your West Jordan or Orem home. But when your rain gutters are not doing their job right, it puts your home at risk. You may think a leaky or sagging gutter is no big deal, but the experts at Capitol Exteriors explain exactly what can happen when your home is repeatedly exposed to water.

How Rain Gutters Work

Rain gutters that aren’t working right may allow water to penetrate your home. This can happen in a couple of different ways. One way is when your gutters are clogged and water is not able to get to the downspout so it spills over the top of the gutter, soaking the sides of your home every time it rains.

Another way is if your downspouts are clogged or not properly connected to the rain gutters. In these cases, rainwater runs down your roof, collects in the gutters, travels to the downspout, then pours over the top, pooling at the corners of your home.

Why Rainwater Is Bad for Wood

Almost all — 90% — of homes in the U.S. are constructed of wood, including most of the homes in West Jordan and Orem. Wood is vulnerable to moisture in a way that brick, stone and stucco are not. (And even if your home exterior is made of one of these materials, the framing and the roof are wood.)

Oftentimes when wood gets wet, if it is allowed to dry quickly, it may not suffer any serious damage. However, if you have ever had a leak in your home, you may be familiar with how wood can be forever changed by exposure to water.

If wood is submerged for any period of time, it absorbs the water it sits in. This causes the wood to swell, warp and possibly even crack. When the wood dries, it may look and behave differently and fail to provide the same strength and protection it previously did.

This process not only weakens your structure, but it potentially exposes you and your family to the unhealthy effects of mold.

Water Can Seep into Your Basement

In the cases of problematic downspouts or overflowing gutters, the water that is supposed to be carried away from your home is not, and it pools near the foundation. This can happen even if your gutters are working correctly, if you don’t have working downspout extenders to carry the water away from your home.

When this happens, the water may eventually penetrate the foundation and leak into your basement. Even though foundations are usually made of stone or concrete, over time, tiny cracks can form that you may not even notice — until water starts seeping through them.

Water in your basement can do tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to the building materials and your belongings. Even worse, a perpetually soggy area around your foundation can cause the ground to become unstable and the foundation to shift, compromising the integrity of your home.

Rain Gutter Repair in West Jordan & Orem

So as you can see, rain gutters perform a vital function, and any glitch to the system can be a serious threat to your home — and your finances.

If your rain gutters aren’t working the way they should, call Capitol Exteriors today for rain gutter repair, and make your home safe again.

At Capitol Exteriors we provide quality workmanship and customer service, honesty and professionalism. We stand behind our work on every project and strive for excellence. It is through this belief that we attribute all of our success and look to build lasting relationships into the future.

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