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The foundation of your home is a very important structural component. Damage to the foundation could have severe consequences on your entire home. Pooling of water around your foundation, especially repeatedly, and/or for long periods of time can begin to cause issues. Some of these issues may be minor but others can be serious enough to compromise the overall structure and stability of your home.
You may not have gutters on your home because you don’t think you need them and/or you felt like were and unnecessary thing to add to your home’s maintenance list. However, this could be a costly decision. The purpose of having a gutter system is to direct water away from your home and to protect your foundation. Without gutters, the water has nowhere to go but down, right towards your foundation. Pooling around this area can cause very serious issues like water damage, cracks, bowing and potential flooding in the basement.
We’ve heard homeowners say that they “ripped their gutters off,” or they “don’t have them” because they don’t believe they need them or they didn’t feel like maintaining them. When we hear this, we try to educate homeowners about the dangers of not having a gutter system and that the elimination of minor, routine maintenance may create a bigger, much costlier and time consuming project in the future.
If you do have a gutter system, it is important to remember to keep them clean and flowing properly. A clogged gutter is as potentially dangerous to your foundation as having no gutters.
Are you wondering how to spot foundation damage? Here are ten warning signs that your structure may be compromised:
Poor drainage on a property is the most common reason for damage, usually caused by gutter issues (or no gutters) and/or improper grading of the property. Grading refers to the landscaping around the property and soil elevation. It is important to make sure that water is always being directed away from the home. According to an HGTV article, “A typical grading plan will show the slope of the lot in 5-foot increments, and can provide the site supervisor with the specific information needed for inspecting and managing the grading trade contractor.”
If you are still debating whether to have gutters installed on your home or not, it is important to remember the effects not having gutters could potentially have on your home’s foundation and overall structural support. If you need gutters visit www.brothersgutters.com!
Watch our “Ask the Professional” episode featuring Bill Hennekens of B-Dry where he talks about how to keeping a dry basement: