How Winter Weather Hinders Roofs & Gutters

Doesn’t matter where you live, the winter weather changes rapidly from day-to-day. One morning you can wake up to warmer temperatures and rain, but wake up the next to a blizzard that slows your morning commute to a snails crawl. Imagine how the exterior of your home is handling all of the drastic weather changes?

Come spring time, you’ll be outside cleaning up after a winter filled with wild highs and lows. Maybe you should focus your attention on the gutters to avoid some serious gutter issues that can lead to roof and foundation damage.

Owning a home can be a wonderful and enriching experience. There’s nothing like being able to make a house a home by making it yours. Besides, who wouldn’t want to create a dream kitchen or have a “man cave” in their home? But, with all the great things that come with home ownership, there’s also the work that is required to maintain a beautiful home.

We all know that the usual household chores and home improvement projects keep a home beautiful as well as comfortable. The most neglected project is cleaning gutters. Cleaning gutters can be a hassle and very inconvenient.

Gutters are a chore to clean, but they’re a very necessary part of your home. The buildup of leaves and debris can clog your gutters if left unattended. It can be stressed enough that clogged gutters can cause many problems like:

• Oversaturation of the soil around your home

• Attraction of pests; mostly bugs and possibly snakes

• Leaks

• Cracks in your foundation

• Buildup of bacteria and mold

• Potential cave-ins

Many of these problems can originate from one another. Gutter overflow is caused by a clogged gutter. The resulting overflow of water reaches the ground and saturates the soil around your home. Oversaturation of the soil around your home eventually leads to the groundwater slowly eroding your foundation. Too much water on one area of your foundation will eventually cause the foundation to crack because of erosion.

If the crack gets deep enough, the groundwater leaks into your basement. The groundwater can pool in your basement causing property damage (especially in finished basements). The standing water will also facilitate the growth of bacteria and mold. If the foundation becomes too eroded and weakens, the home could cave in.

While water damages your home below, the water in the gutters attracts various types of harmful bugs and small animals; but that’s another issue on its own.

These problems can happen only if you don’t maintain your gutters or purchase a gutter protection or gutter guard that keeps water in while keeping everything else out. A gutter protection system or gutter guard will save you time and save you from possible health hazards too.