Well-maintained rain gutters keep water away from the home.
Adequate rain gutters are a key to home maintenance. The simple system of connected gutters that create a channel to transport rainwater away from the house helps protect the foundation, maintain siding from splashing water and prevent garage and basement leaks. Rain gutters' stability can be overestimated until problems cause damage. Does this Spark an idea?
Iced Gutters
As snow accumulates on a roof, warmth from the house and outside temperatures eventually melt it. In cool weather, the snow can form into mini-glaciers that slide down the roof and rest on the gutters. Away from the warmth of the house, the glacier freezes into solid ice, turning the gutters into swollen ice trays. The weight of ice on the gutters can tear them away from the roof.
Clogged Gutters
Leaves and sticks that collect on a roof eventually make their way into open gutters. This debris quickly builds up, making gutters ineffective. Once downspout access is blocked, rainwater with no other exit route will spill over the edge of the gutters and force its way through weakened joints. This can then lead to spot-flooding below the gutter line and with enough rain a waterfall can build up. Misdirected water floods garages, ruins adjacent planting beds and does not collect in rain barrels.
Sagging Gutters
Rain gutters expand and contract in response to temperature changes, regardless of the gutter material--plastic, steel or aluminum. As the material heats up and the gutters bulge with expansion, this action pulls at the spikes that secure the gutters to the roof. Eventually, the nail securing the gutter works its way out and the gutter sags. Sagging gutters are more obvious on longer gutter runs. They contribute to leaks at the joints and cause water to drip from behind the gutter as it tears farther away from the roof.
Downspout Noise
The chronic drip of a noisy downspout can be a torturous sound. Water travels or drips, depending on the amount of flow, from the downspout to the elbow. The sound is more audible the higher the elbow is positioned along the downspout line. An elbow connected to a 3-foot-high rain barrel is downright obnoxious when it drips.
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