Most Florida homeowners don’t spend a lot of time thinking about their gutters, but knowing why they are important may prevent expensive home repair in the future.
Basically, the gutters on your home funnel water off of the roof and away from your perimeter, which protects your siding or stucco, windows, doors and foundation from water damage. While that sounds important, many homeowners don’t realize how much damage can occur when their gutters are clogged, leaking, damaged or broken. When gutters aren’t functioning properly, rainwater runs off the roof of the house and collects on the ground near the foundation. Heavy rains can result in standing pools of water, which can cause lots of problems.
Gutters protect your home from:
• Flooding in yard and driveway
• Cracked or damaged foundation
• Infestations – Mosquitoes and other insects breed in standing water
• Mold – overflowing gutters create an environment for mold to flourish
• Erosion – topsoil protects the foundation of your home, if not correctly diverted away from your home the topsoil will erode and leave your foundation vulnerable.
• Staining to the exterior of your home fascia, soffit, wood framing and outside walls as well as decks, patios, driveways and walkways
• Paint damage
• Rotting or rusting of exterior building products
• Damage to landscaping
You would be surprised just how many new florida homes do not include gutters. One inch of rain on an average sized house roof creates about 500 gallons of rainwater runoff. Now imagine the volume of water hitting your roof in one of our heavy rainstorms. Bet you are thinking about your gutters now! Call Commercial Residential Aluminum today for a quick quote on having new gutters professionally fabricated and installed for your home. You’ll be surprised just how inexpensive they are and how fast we can get them installed on your home.
If your home already has gutters here are a few maintenance reminders:
Gutters should be cleaned twice a year and more often if you have excessive tree limbs hanging over your roof, especially from heavy shedding trees like our Live Oaks.
Make sure your gutters aren’t pulling away from the house. If they are, call us about changing the spikes holding the gutters to screws. Screws do a much better job of holding the gutters in place.
Make sure your downspouts are clear and not blocked by leaves, and that the water from your gutters, downspouts, and around the house flows at least 10 feet away from the edge of your foundation
Many of you prefer to clean their own gutters, while others hire a gutter expert to do the cleaning for a reasonable cost. The cost of hiring a professional to clean your gutters is a pittance compared to the money you’ll spend on repairs to your home if they aren’t functioning properly.
If you clean gutters yourself, make sure to check for rusted spots, dents and holes, broken gutter hangers, and disconnected joints. Repair or replace any problem areas at your earliest convenience of call the gutter experts at CRA today.
For over 20 years, Commercial ResidentialAluminum has built, installed, and serviced seamless gutters, swimming pool cages, screen enclosures, lanais, front entries, fencing, screening, re-screening, replacing a screen panel, rain gutters, soffitt and fascia, aluminum railings, covered walkways, windows, and much more, for Sarasota, Venice, Manatee County, Bradenton, Fort Myers, and Naples.
