Are you getting ready to renovate your home? Have you been wondering if having a gutter system installed is actually necessary? If your home's gutter system is in poor condition, you may be considering simply removing it and leaving your home gutter-free. After all, the money that you'd spend on fixing or replacing the gutters could be used on other parts of your home renovation. However, a working gutter system actually does more than you may realize. Some of the reasons why you want to fix or update this system include:
Prevent flooding and foundation damage: A heavy rainstorm can dump a significant amount of water on your roof. Without any gutters on your eaves, this water will run off the roof directly to the ground. If you have a basement, this excess rain can temporarily raise the water table around your home enough that your basement starts to flood. Even if you do not have a basement, too much water around your foundation could eventually result in things like uneven settling and cracks in the foundation itself. Properly installed gutters will catch the majority of the water that falls onto your roof, redirecting it away from your home.
Stop erosion: Without gutters, even a mild or moderate storm can still dump a significant amount of water onto the ground surrounding your home. Depending on exactly how much water this is, the line where the water is cascading off of your roof could show almost immediate signs of erosion. After just a few rainstorms, you may be left with a shallow grass-free trench in your lawn where soil has washed away enough so that grass can't grow. Installing gutters on your roof will stop this erosion from happening, allowing your lawn to continue growing as it should.
Prevent leaks and wood rot: If rainwater is allowed to simply flow from your roof, some of it may wind up dripping down under your eaves and possibly behind your siding. Your siding is designed to stop water from getting to your house, but it isn't going to be very effective at stopping rainwater from getting in at the very top. Once past the siding barrier, there may be enough moisture for water to leak through into your home itself. If that isn't the case, there may still be sufficient moisture to kickstart dry rot or other kinds of rot. A well-designed gutter system will help to prevent this from happening, with the gutters catching the water before it can go where it's not supposed to be.
